TEL AVIV — Hamas has demanded that other jihadist Palestinian organizations prevent any attempts to carry out attacks in the border area with Israel in order to avoid harming the chances of leading thousands of Palestinians to the border fence in a protest planned as part of events marking the 70th anniversary of Israel’s founding, a senior official in one of the jihadist Palestinian organizations told Breitbart Jerusalem.
According to the source, in a meeting between Hamas leaders, including Ismail Haniyeh, and representatives of the Palestinian factions, Hamas insisted that Israel must not be given an “excuse” to take steps that would make people afraid to approach the Israel-Gaza fence, which would harm the planned protest in which thousands are expected to march to the fence.
Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth reported last week that the IDF is preparing for attempts by Hamas to send thousands of protesters to the border on Israeli Independence Day on April 19, taking advantage of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Breitbart Jerusalem also reported last month that Hamas and the Palestinian factions are considering the idea of sending thousands of protesters to the border with Israel to put pressure on Israel, the Palestinian Authority and the international community to find a solution to the hardships in the Gaza Strip.
According to the Palestinian source, Hamas plans to attempt to begin processions in the coming weeks and bring them to a climax on Israeli Independence Day.
The source noted that in a meeting attended by Haniyeh, Hamas demanded that attack attempts be prevented like the one from two months ago when four IDF soldiers were wounded by an explosive device wrapped in a Palestinian flag and hung on the border fence.