Egypt, Qatar and the United Nations have contacted Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in an attempt to prevent a major confrontation between the Gaza-based terrorist groups and Israel, sources close to Hamas said Monday night.
Haniyeh, who is based in Qatar, phoned Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and briefed him on the current situation in the Gaza Strip and Jerusalem, the sources said.
“Our decision and the decision of the Palestinian people is to defend al-Aqsa Mosque and Jerusalem,” Haniyeh was quoted as telling Erdogan. “This is not the battle of the Jerusalem residents alone, but the battle of all of Palestine and all Muslims.”
Leaders of Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other terrorist groups in the Gaza Strip threatened to step up their attacks on Israel in response to Israeli attacks on the Hamas-ruled coastal enclave.
The Israeli strikes came after Izzadin al-Qassam, the so-called “military” wing of Hamas, fired a barrage of rockets toward Israel.
“We have been contacted by some international and regional parties as part of an effort to avoid further escalation,” a senior Hamas official in the Gaza Strip said. “We made it clear that it was Israel that started the current escalation because of its aggression on our people in Jerusalem and al-Aqsa Mosque.”
The clashes in Jerusalem between Palestinians and the police “reaffirm that the new generation of Palestinians is capable of defeating Israel and achieving victory,” Hamas official Izzat al-Risheq said.
Islamic Jihad called on Palestinians to join and support the “Ramadan Intifada” against Israel.
“Our people and their brave resistance will not allow the Zionist entity to carry out its plan to Judaize Jerusalem, steal our land and storm the holy sites,” the terrorist group said in a statement.