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Steven Emerson,
Executive Director
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May 29, 2018
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New
Analysis Confirms Hamas Organized Violent Gaza Border Riots
by IPT News • May 29, 2018 at
12:17 pm
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The vast majority of Palestinian fatalities during violent
demonstrations on the Israel-Gaza border were members or affiliates of
terrorist organizations – primarily Hamas.
Of the 112 reported deaths from March 30 to May 14, 93 people (83
percent) belonged to or were associated with terrorist groups, according to
a new analysis from the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism
Information Center.
Most of the dead connected to terrorist groups – 63 people – were Hamas
members. This figure is consistent with assessments offered by two senior
Hamas officials as the violence played out. Salah Bardawil claimed that
Hamas members represented half of the total deaths and boasted
that of 62 people killed on May 14, 50 were Hamas members. Hamas political
chief Yayha Sinwar claimed more than 60 Hamas deaths on that day.
Members from other Palestinian terrorist groups, including Fatah and the
Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), also were killed in the clashes but played
a less prominent role in organizing the demonstrations.
Click here for the full Meir Amit report, which includes
details concerning the terrorists' affiliations. It used social media
accounts and Palestinian websites to match the names of the dead to
terrorist groups.
The findings, supported by official statements from Hamas leaders, prove
that Hamas was the driving force behind the deadly protests, which were
depicted as peaceful demonstrations.
Hamas orchestrated several attacks at the border and encouraged
Palestinians to infiltrate into Israel. Other rioters threw pipe bombs at
the fence and deployed Molotov kites, sparking fires in Israeli fields near
the border. Some terrorists engaged in shooting attacks and planted
improvised explosive devices.
Any attempts to portray the riots as "peaceful protests"
defies the evidence and Hamas's own leadership.
Senior Hamas official Mahmoud Al-Zahhar acknowledged that the Gaza demonstrations were
"not peaceful resistance" and Hamas's efforts at the border are
"bolstered by a military force and by security agencies."
"This is a clear terminological deception [i.e. "peaceful
resistance"]. When you are in possession of weapons that were able to
withstand the occupation in the wars of 2006, 2008, 2012, and 2014... This
is not peaceful resistance... so when we talk about 'peaceful resistance,'
we are deceiving the public," Al-Zahhar said in a May 13 interview.
Even though the riots have waned since May 14, Palestinian violence
escalated significantly Tuesday morning.
Gaza-based terrorists fired
28 mortar shells at communities in southern Israel, injuring one
civilian and striking a kindergarten yard just before children were due to
arrive for school.
The Israeli military believes PIJ is responsible for the rocket barrage,
but Israel tends to hold Hamas responsible for terrorist activity emanating
from Gaza.
Hamas at times tries to restrain rival Palestinian groups from firing
missiles at Israel to avoid sparking a wider war. Instead, Hamas developed
a new tactic to violently confront Israel: forcing Palestinian civilians
and terrorists to swarm and attack Israel's border, under the guise of
peaceful protest, to exploiting the inevitable casualties for propaganda
purposes.
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