by Daniel SiryotiDaniel
"Even if the Israelis decide to dismantle your rule in Gaza by assassinating each and every one of you" we won't "lift a finger."
Hamas leader in Gaza Yahya Sinwar Photo: AP
Shortly
after 9 p.m. on Thursday, minutes after sirens blared across central
Israel and a loud boom overhead shook the area, senior Egyptian
intelligence officers became outraged during a meeting with Hamas
officials in Gaza.
"Just so you know," they leveled at Hamas
leaders Yahya Sinwar and Ismail Haniyeh, "if Israel decides to launch a
comprehensive military operation in Gaza we won't do a thing to stop it,
even if it decides to simultaneously topple Hamas and conquer the Gaza
Strip."
The dramatic exchange was relayed to Israel Hayom by a senior Egyptian official who attended the meeting.
"The atmosphere at the start of the meeting
was very relaxed and cordial," the Egyptian official said. "A short
while before the meeting we had returned from Israel with answers. We
believed Hamas would accept them and facilitate a more stable and
long-term cease-fire. A few minutes later an assistant to the Egyptian
delegation entered the [meeting] room with a worried look on his face
and handed the Egyptian delegation leaders his cell phone.
"The smiles were immediately replaced with
grim faces; the delegation heads turned to Sinwar livid and told him:
'How far do you think you will get with this double game of yours? We
are sitting here to hammer out the details of a cease-fire with Israel
and behind our backs, you are authorizing your people to fire missiles
at Tel Aviv?'"
The tones grew even tenser, the Egyptian official continued.
"If Israel decides to launch a
comprehensive military operation in Gaza, this time we won't do a thing
to stop the Israeli attack, even if the Israelis decide to dismantle
your rule in Gaza by assassinating each and every one of you. While
[Israel] is retaking Gaza, Egypt and its allies in the region won't lift
a finger to stop the Israeli response."
According to the Egyptian official, Haniyeh
and Sinwar were no less surprised than the Egyptians upon hearing about
the missile launch at central Israel.
"Hamas is not behind the launch," Sinwar
reportedly told his Egyptian guests, adding that his organization would
conduct a thorough investigation to find those responsible. Sinwar asked
the Egyptian officials to contact Israeli leaders and inform them that
no order had been given to fire rockets at Israel, and certainly not Tel
Aviv.
The Egyptian intelligence officials were
unconvinced and continued to assail Sinwar. "You are lying! The blood of
Gazans who will be hurt in the Israeli response is on your hands! By
your own hands you will bring about the destruction of Gaza and the fall
of your regime, and you've also gambled with our own safety in Gaza by
shooting at Tel Aviv while we are here!"
Sinwar responded to the allegations, glumly
telling his guests: "I won't ask you to risk your lives by staying in
Gaza, but before you leave we ask that you contact your Israeli
counterparts and stress to them that the missile launch was not
intentional and certainly wasn't planned, and that Hamas isn't seeking
an escalation but to wrap up the remaining loose ends on the cease-fire
understandings."
The Egyptian official added: "A short while
after we left the Strip, Sinwar contacted the delegation heads and told
them that Hamas operatives carrying out maintenance duties near the
launch batteries placed in western Gaza, in preparation for a future
clash with Israel, apparently fired the missiles mistakenly. According
to Sinwar, Hamas detained one operative and promised to detain others
and bring them to justice."
Hamas also acquiesced to the Egyptian
demand that it cancel Friday's "March of Return" border demonstrations,
which it conducts weekly, and that its so-called "March of a Million,"
planned for late March, either refrains from violence or is also
canceled altogether.
Daniel SiryotiDaniel
Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/2019/03/17/israel-will-destroy-you-and-we-wont-do-a-thing-to-stop-it/
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