Hamas on Monday called on West Bank Arabs to conduct attacks on Israelis, urging them to start the “third intifada” that would begin with attacks on West Bank Jewish communities and eventually move into the rest of Israel, reports Israel National News.
The call coincided with two separate terror attacks in Jerusalem. In one incident, a terrorist driving a construction excavator rammed and overturned a bus, killing one Israeli and injuring six others. In another Jerusalem attack, a terrorist on a motorcycle shot an Israeli soldier in the stomach, seriously wounding him.
In a message sent out by Hamas Monday to “the Palestinians of the Occupied West Bank,” Hamas called on Arabs to “conduct mass riots” over the next three days as a “sign of support” for Gaza and of “resistance” to “violence” by Israel.
On Monday night, Israeli media outlets, quoting Egyptian sources, said that Hamas and Islamic Jihad had agreed to an Egyptian demand for a three-day cease-fire. The sources said that the cease-fire could go into effect as soon as Tuesday morning.
In its message, Hamas called on residents of Hebron, Ramallah and Shechem to converge on the main square in their cities and demand that Hamas retain the right to keep its weapons, rockets and tunnels against Israel.
Hamas on Monday praised the terrorist who attacked the Israeli bus with a construction excavator. Hamas said that it “congratulated the free Palestinian of Jerusalem for his attack. This attack is a natural response to the occupation of our people.” In a statement, Hamas spokesperson Fawzi Barhoum said that “the action in Jerusalem was very brave, a natural response to the occupation.”