TEL AVIV – Hamas has drafted an “emergency” plan to be implemented in another conflict with Israel, a top Hamas official told Breitbart Jerusalem.
The Hamas leadership assumes that another round of violence is only a matter of time, the official said, due to Israel’s public reaction to Hamas’s tunnel network in the Gaza Strip
“Their (Israel’s) talk is meant to sway public opinion in favor of an impending attack on the Strip,” the official claimed.
As part of the emergency plan, Hamas asked other militant groups in the Strip to coordinate their activities with the government. The military wing ordered regional and local commanders to get ready for another conflict, the source said, no later than next summer.
Last Sunday, amid reports of fresh Hamas tunneling, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to hit the Hamas infrastructure in the Gaza Strip harder than during the 2014 war – known as Operation Protective Edge – which started after Hamas launched multiple rockets into Israeli territory.
“In the event we are attacked from tunnels in the Gaza Strip, we will act very forcefully against Hamas, and with much more force than Operation Protective Edge,” Netanyahu said.
Seven Hamas militants were killed last week, and another two on Tuesday, while working to restore tunnels slated to serve as launching pads for attacks on Israel.
At a funeral for the seven militants last Friday, Ismail Haniyeh, the movement’s former prime minister, vowed to continue building tunnels to attack the Jewish state.
“The Hamas military wing will continue with its preparations both underground and above ground,” Haniyeh declared. “On land and at sea, we will not stop until the liberation of the holy places [in Jerusalem].”
On Wednesday, Gaza-based Hamas leader Zahar boasted that Hamas tunnels “reach deep into the territory occupied in 1948. … The [tunnels] reach [further] than Gaza.”
Asked later about his remarks, Zahar toned down the rhetoric, saying, “The resistance tunnels are defensive tunnels for the protection of our people in the face of any Israeli aggression.”
On Friday, Breitbart Jerusalem reported that Hamas, utilizing critical Iranian funds, has pressed on with completing the restoration of its network of tunnels, including those reaching into Israeli territory, according to a top Hamas diplomatic source.
“The military wing has ensured the preparedness of our tunnels some time ahead of schedule,” the Hamas source said.
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