TEL AVIV — Nayef Hawatmeh, secretary-general of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, has met Hezbollah commander Hassan Nasrallah and the two have agreed to act together against Israel, the Palestinian terror figure told the pro-Iranian Al Mayadeen network based in Beirut.
The Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine is the third-most important group under the umbrella of the PLO, behind Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah organization and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
Hawatmeh’s organization has carried out dozens of terrorist attacks against Israel, the worst of which is known in Israel as the Ma’alot massacre in 1974 when armed Palestinians infiltrated from Lebanon and took over a school in the town of Ma’alot before murdering 22 hostages.
The organization maintains a so-called military wing to this day, active mostly in the Gaza Strip under the name of the National Resistance Brigades.
“The meeting dealt with a number of issues, first and foremost the resistance and the need to fight off any Israeli aggression whether on the Lebanon or Palestinian front,” Hawatmeh told Al Mayadeen.
The Palestinian jihadist highlighted that the Palestinian “resistance is the mother of all resistance movements in the region and the Palestinian revolution has managed to survive all attempts to destroy it.”
Palestinian terrorist groups regularly utilize the word “resistance” as a euphemism for terrorist attacks targeting Israelis.
Hawatmeh added that a PLO proposal to withdraw Palestinian recognition of Israel is a move in the right direction and called on the Palestinian organizations to take action to create a new reality on the ground.
Hezbollah and Iranian efforts to incite terror activity in the Palestinian territories are ongoing, according to Israeli security services. The Shin Bet security service revealed last month that Iranian intelligence has recruited a Palestinian cell in the Hebron region intended to carry out a number of attacks against Israeli targets.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu even made a declaration after the cell was uncovered, stating that Iran is acting to organize attacks in Israel.
Meanwhile, Israeli media reported on Thursday that due to the recent wave of attacks and fear of a new round of violence, the IDF has decided to increase its presence in the West Bank.
According to Israeli daily Israel Hayom, the Israeli government decided on the basis of security consultations to increase troop levels on the ground by an additional three battalions, which will include special forces.