Khaled Abu Toameh: Hamas Forms "Liberation Army" in Gaza, Thanks to EU Support
The Palestinian Islamist movement in the Gaza Strip, Hamas, has intensified its efforts to achieve the destruction of Israel.The West Bank Army of the "State of Palestine," Thanks to the United States
Hamas has obviously interpreted these two decisions -- by the EU court (to remove Hamas from the list of terror organizations) and the International Criminal Court -- as a green light to proceed with its plans to eliminate Israel.
The main goal of Hamas's "Liberation Army" is, of course, to prepare for war against Israel, according to Hamas spokesman, Mushir al-Masri. "The main purpose of these training camps is to prepare an army for the liberation of Palestine and its holy sites in the near future."
The EU court that removed Hamas from its list of terror groups has committed a crime not only against Israel, but also against the Palestinian teenagers who are being trained as jihadists in the movement's camps throughout the Gaza Strip.
The happy feeling among Hamas leaders is that the Europeans and the ICC are helping them achieve their goal of wiping Israel off the face of the earth.
Last week, officials from the U.S. Consulate in East Jerusalem attended a Palestinian protest over Israel's removal of olive trees illegally planted in the West Bank. Coordinated with the Palestinian Authority [PA] but not Israel, the Consulate personnel ended up clashing with Israelis living nearby. It was, perhaps, the quietest international almost-incident you never heard of.Palestinian stabs Tel Aviv commuters in terror attack
This week, with the focus off Paris, the Middle East Quartet (the U.S., EU, Russia & the UN) plans to meet. The U.S. Consulate's determination to provide the trappings of Palestinian statehood to the PA outside the negotiating process should come under scrutiny.
The olive tree incident prompted an article in the Israeli press about the Consulate, including the use of Palestinian security, rather than IDF combat veterans as required by a 2011 agreement. Some IDF guards were fired, according to the article. Others resigned, blaming the appointment of a new consulate security officer, who they said, established a Palestinian armed militia. "He is training them with weapons, combat and tactical exercises. There is a lack of responsibility here - who ensures that such weapons, once given over to Palestinian guards, won't make their way to terror groups?"
A Palestinian man stabbed commuters on a Tel Aviv bus during rush hour Wednesday morning, injuring some 17 people, several seriously, police said.Tel Aviv: Another Target of Terrorism
Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said it was a terror attack.
Four of the victims were hospitalized in serious condition, another five were left in a moderate condition, and the remaining were lightly injured according to media reports.
The attacker was identified as a Palestinian from the West Bank city of Tulkarem, 23. He was shot after a short chase, during which he continued to stab people on the street, and taken into police custody.
He was named later as Hamza Matrouk, 23, a resident of the West Bank refugee camp of Tulkarem. He had crossed into Israel illegally. Matrouk said he was motivated to carry out the terror attack by the Israel-Hamas war this summer, and recent tensions surrounding the Temple Mount. He also said he had seen and been influenced by material promising paradise to “martyrs” who kill Jews, investigators who questioned him said.