Hamas says it is unfazed by Israeli assassination threats

By Mohammad Majid

GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) - Palestinian resistance group Hamas said it is unfazed by Israeli threats to assassinate its leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar.

"The Israeli campaign of threats and incitement to assassinate Sinwar or other Hamas leaders does not frighten us," political bureau member Izzat al-Rishq said in a statement.

Al-Rishq termed the Israeli threats as “a failed attempt to reassure terrified settlers,” adding that they only serve to “increase our determination to defend Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa.”

On Friday, several former Israeli officials and journalists openly called for the assassination of Sinwar following an attack in the city of Elad, near Tel Aviv, in which three settlers were killed.

Hamas did not claim responsibility for the attack. However, it hailed it as a response to "Israel's violations against the Palestinians."

Last week, Sinwar called on the Palestinians in the West Bank and the Arab cities inside Israel to attack Israelis over Israeli violations in Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Tensions have been running high across Palestinian territories since last month amid repeated Israeli arrest campaigns in the occupied West Bank and daily settler incursions into the flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque complex in East Jerusalem.

Al-Aqsa Mosque is the world's third-holiest site for Muslims. Jews call the area the "Temple Mount," claiming it was the site of two Jewish temples in ancient times.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem, where Al-Aqsa is located, during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. It annexed the entire city in 1980, in a move never recognized by the international community.

*Writing by Ibrahim Mukhtar in Ankara