Hamas Stages First West Bank March Since 2007

by News Agencies and Israel Hayom Staff

Marchers chant “Hamas — you are the guns; we are the bullets,” and, "fire more rockets on Tel Aviv”• Supporters hold models of the rockets terrorists fired at Israeli cities in last month’s fighting • Fatah leader says "Hamas' victory in Gaza was a victory for all Palestinians."

Palestinian supporters on Thursday hold models of Hamas M75 long range rocket which was fired at Tel Aviv and Jerusalem last month. Photo credit: AP

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Palestinian chant pro-Hamas slogans in Nablus, Thursday. |Photo credit: AP

Pro-Hamas demonstrations in Nablus on Thursday.
Photo credit: AP

Pro-Hamas demonstrations in Nablus on Thursday.

|Photo credit: AP

The Hamas terrorist group on Thursday staged its first public demonstration in the West Bank since 2007, illustrating its improving ties with the rival Fatah movement following a five-year rift.

The show of force by Hamas reflected the group’s growing popularity in Palestinian society following an eight-day battle against Israel last month and its rising influence as Islamists rise to power across the region.

Hamas said about 5,000 of its supporters took to the streets in the West Bank city of Nablus after prayers Thursday.

Marchers chanted, “Hamas — you are the guns; we are the bullets,” and, “Hamas, fire more rockets on Tel Aviv.” Some women held models of the rockets terrorists fired at Israeli cities in last month’s fighting.

Hamas’ influence was also on display in the city of Hebron, where thousands of supporters turned out for the funeral of a teenager killed by an Israeli Border Police officer a day earlier. The police say he brandished a weapon, which later turned out to be fake.

Hamas members have been subjected to both Israeli and Palestinian crackdowns since it seized power in the Gaza Strip five years ago, leaving the Palestinians’ Western-backed president, Mahmoud Abbas, in control only of the West Bank.

But the two rival factions have made gestures toward each other following Israel's eight-day Operation Pillar of Defense in the Gaza Strip last month and Abbas’ successful bid at the United Nations to obtain nonmember observer state status for the Palestinians.

“Hamas steadfastness and victory in Gaza was a big victory for all Palestinian people,” Amin Makboul, a Fatah leader, said in a speech at Thursday’s rally in Nablus.

Lack of progress in peace talks with Israel and Hamas’ perceived victory in recent fighting has increased Hamas' popularity among Palestinians.

Thousands of Palestinians marched through the streets of Hebron on Thursday, chanting anti-Israel slogans and waving green Hamas flags during the funeral procession of the teenager killed a day earlier in this volatile West Bank city.

Dozens of youths clashed with Israeli soldiers throughout the day, throwing stones and bottles. Troops responded with volleys of tear gas and rubber bullets. No serious injuries were reported.

Wednesday’s shooting of 17-year-old Mohammed Suleima has raised tensions in Hebron, where several hundred Israeli settlers live among more than 180,000 Palestinians.

The shooting occurred near a holy site known to Jews as the Cave of the Patriarchs and to Muslims as the Ibrahimi Mosque. Tradition holds that it is the place where their shared patriarch, Abraham, or Ibrahim to Muslims, bought a burial plot.

Israel’s paramilitary Border Police force said officers shot Suleima after he threatened them with a gun that only later turned out to be fake.

The officer said in an Israeli TV interview Thursday that she shot the youth when she saw him pull out a gun and press it to the temple of another officer. The TV report said that Palestinian activists put up posters in Hebron calling on the public to kill her.

Relatives of Suleima said he was unarmed.

Some 5,000 people joined Thursday’s funeral procession, praising God and vowing revenge. “Our blood will redeem the martyr,” the crowd chanted.

Suleima’s body was wrapped in a green Hamas shroud as it was carried on a stretcher through the streets. Dozens of people held green Hamas flags aloft during the procession. Suleima’s family is known to support Hamas, and his brother was released last year in a prisoner swap between Hamas and Israel that freed Israeli soldier Gilad Schalit, who had been held captive by Hamas in Gaza for more than five years.

News Agencies and Israel Hayom Staff

Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=6723

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