Hamas: Tel Aviv stabbing attack 'heroic act'

Event deemed "natural response to Israeli terrorism" by Hamas.

By KHALED ABU TOAMEH
Man stabs passengers on the 40 bus line, near Tel Aviv's Maariv junction, January 21 (photo credit: TAZPIT)
Man stabs passengers on the 40 bus line, near Tel Aviv's Maariv junction, January 21
(photo credit: TAZPIT)
Hamas and several other Palestinian groups welcomed Wednesday’s stabbing attack in Tel Aviv while Palestinian Authority officials rejected charges of incitement against Israel.
Hussam Badran, a senior Hamas official, called on Palestinians to step up “organized and individual resistance” against Israel. Such attacks would confuse Israel and deter it from “pursuing its schemes against the Palestinians,” he said The perpetrator of the attack has brought happiness to the mothers whose sons were killed by Israel, Badran said.
“The Palestinian people need to endorse jihad,” the Hamas official said.
Another Hamas leader, Izzat al-Risheq, hailed the attack as heroic and brave, saying it was a “natural response to the crimes of the occupation and its terrorism against our people.”
Hamas spokesman Ismail Radwan also praised the attack as heroic. It sends a message to the PA leadership in the West Bank that “security coordination with the occupation won’t stop the resistance or tie the hands of the Palestinians,” he said.
The Popular Front – General Command, another terrorist group, issued a statement calling on Palestinians to endorse the armed struggle against Israel. The group called on Arabs and Muslims to supply weapons to the West Bank to support the fight.
Meanwhile, PA officials in Ramallah dismissed Israeli charges that President Mahmoud Abbas was responsible for the attack because of ongoing incitement against Israel.
The officials condemned the Israeli government for inciting against Abbas and called on the international community to intervene to stop the campaign against their leader.
The PLO executive committee, which held a meeting in Ramallah on Wednesday, did not make any reference to the Tel Aviv attack.
Abbas called the meeting to discuss Palestinian efforts to re-submit to the UN Security Council a resolution that would establish a timeline for an Israeli withdrawal to the pre- 1967 lines.
The PLO leaders decided to form a committee to follow up on the cases that the Palestinians plan to bring against Israel before the International Criminal Court.
The executive committee also called for a “serious discussion” about the continuation of security coordination with Israel.