Haniyeh blames Israel for "indiscriminate bombing, deliberate killings, and direct assassination," says Gaza is "particularly targeted."
By JPOST.COM STAFFHaniyeh and bodyguards_311(photo credit: Reuters/Ismail Zaydah)Hamas officials have contacted Arab states and other countries in order to help pressure Israel to stop its "aggression" against the Gaza Strip, Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said Friday according to Palestinian news website Al Resalah.On Thursday, Israel targeted a terror cell in Gaza City it said was planning attacks on Israel, killing a senior commander in the Al Aksa Martyrs Brigade. A surge of rocket fire from Gaza towards Israel followed shortly after, to which Israel responded Friday overnight, killing one civilian an injuring 13 others according to Palestinian sources. As of Friday evening, terrorists fired 6 additional rockets towards various location in the South, causing no damage or injuries according to police. RELATED:IAF strikes tunnel used to infiltrate into IsraelThe Hamas leader, speaking after Friday prayers at the Palestine Mosque in Gaza, blamed Israel for "indiscriminate bombing, deliberate killings and direct assassination," according to Al Resalah.Haniyeh stressed that Israeli attacks in Gaza - which he said was "particularly targeted" - will not achieve their objectives, and emphasized the "ability of the resistance to defend the Palestinian people." On Thursday shortly after the spike in rocket fire from Gaza, the Egypt ambassador to the Palestinian Territories said Egypt was working to restore calm in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel amid the back-and-forth attacks, Ma'an News Agency reported.Egyptian ambassador to the Palestinian Territories Yasser Othman told Ma'an that "Egypt is trying to stop Israeli violations and attacks and reinstate a ceasefire, which Israel annulled today when it assassinated Essam and Sobhi Batash."Othman said Egypt was "completely opposed to Israeli violations and operations in the Gaza Strip," according to Ma'an.He also said that Cairo was in contact with all the relevant parties in order to prevent a deterioration in the situation in Gaza, and to protect the Palestinian people's rights.A Hamas spokesperson said Thursday Israel was to blame for an escalation of violence.Earlier Thursday, the IDF thwarted an attack from the Sinai Peninsula after the Air Force bombed targets in the northern Gaza Strip, killing a number of senior terrorists involved in plotting attacks against Israel.Hamas spokesperson Fawzi Barhoum called the attack a crime."We hold the government of the Zionist occupation (Israel) fully responsible for this crime and for the new escalation," Barhoum said.
Barhoum called on Egypt and the United Nations to intervene immediately in order to put pressure on Israel to "stop attacks," according to pan-Arab news website Vision News.
He also blamed the United States for financial and militarily supporting what he called "the growing crimes of the 'occupation' against the Palestinian people."Palestinians reported that two people were killed in the attack and at least two others injured.Yaakov Katz, Yaakov Lappin and Reuters contributed to this report
