TEL AVIV – Gaza-based terror group Hamas urged Palestinians to hold a “Day of Rage” on Friday, during the time that former statesman Shimon Peres will be buried in Jerusalem.
The call marks the one year anniversary of the ongoing wave of terror attacks dubbed the Knife Intifada or the Al Aqsa Intifada by the Palestinians.
Earlier on Wednesday, Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri told AP that “the Palestinian people are very happy at the passing of this criminal who caused their blood to shed.”
He added, “Shimon Peres was the last remaining Israeli official who founded the occupation, and his death is the end of a phase in the history of this occupation and the beginning of a new phase of weakness.”
However, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas wrote a condolence letter to Peres’ family expressing “sorrow and sympathy.”
Abbas said Peres led the way to a “peace of the brave” with late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and prime minister Yitzhak Rabin.
Abbas said Peres “exerted persistent efforts to reach a just peace from the Oslo agreement until the final moments of his life.”
Abbas’ words seemed to contradict the messages conveyed in Palestinian Authority’s news agency, WAFA, which is under Abbas’ direct supervision. According to Ynet news, a short item on the former president’s death was published before being promptly removed. A new item was put in its place that documented Peres’ “aggression.”
The article did not mention any of the efforts Peres made for peace, including his role in the Oslo Accords with Arafat and Rabin for which the three earned the Nobel Peace Prize.
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