The detention of eight Hamas “leaders” in the Hebron area by the IDF won’t intimidate the Palestinians or stop them from “pursuing their national role in defending their land and holy sites,” the terrorist organization said on Saturday.
Palestinian sources said the men were detained during IDF raids on their homes early Saturday in the towns of Dura, Deir Samet, Surif and Idhna in the Hebron area.
The sources identified the Hamas suspects as Mohammed Yusef al-Huroub, Ahmed Dib al-Huroub, Ezz Qassem, Ayed Dudin, Fadi Ghneimat, Khaled al-Fasfous, Tawfik Abdel Fattah al-Huroub, and Imsail al-Nattah.
Hamas spokesperson Abdel Hakim Hanini said that the detainees, who previously served time in Israeli prison for terrorist-related offenses, were “paying the price for their defense of the holy sites and the freedom of the land and Palestinians.”
Hanini pointed out that Mohammed Yusef al-Huroub was detained in Dura by the IDF shortly after he was summoned for interrogation by the Palestinian Authority security forces. Al-Huroub’s ID card was still being held by the PA security forces, he said.
The Hamas spokesperson condemned the “revolving door policy” between the IDF and the PA security forces in the West Bank, a reference to the security coordination between the two sides.
Hamas has repeatedly condemned the security coordination and called on the PA to halt all forms of collaboration with Israel.
The crackdown on Hamas operatives coincided with the 19th anniversary of the Second Intifada, also known as the al-Aqsa Intifada, which erupted on September 28, 2000.
Hamas said in a statement on Saturday that the al-Aqsa Intifada “was a turning point in the Palestinian cause and a milestone in the history of our people.”
According to Hamas, the Palestinians’ “popular and military action” during the al-Aqsa Intifada forced Israel to withdraw from the Gaza Strip in 2005.
“Resistance is a legitimate right guaranteed by international laws, and this includes the armed struggle [against Israel], which represents a strategic choice for protecting the Palestinian cause and restoring national rights,” Hamas said.
The terror group that seized control of the Gaza Strip in 2007 also reiterated its fierce opposition to normalization between Israel and the Arab states.
“Normalization with the Zionist entity poses a grave threat to the Palestinian cause and rights,” Hamas warned, calling on Arabs to put pressure on their leaders not to engage in any form of normalization with Israel.