Ya'alon: Hamas in Gaza and Turkey seeking to create terrorism in West Bank

Defense Minister held an evaluation meeting with Central Command senior officers

By YAAKOV LAPPIN
Moshe Ya'alon touring IDF Central Command (photo credit: ARIEL HERMONI / DEFENSE MINISTRY)
Moshe Ya'alon touring IDF Central Command
(photo credit: ARIEL HERMONI / DEFENSE MINISTRY)
Hamas branches in Gaza and in Istanbul, Turkey, are seeking to orchestrate terrorist attacks in the West Bank, Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon said Sunday during a tour of the IDF’s Central Command.
“Hamas is trying to build terrorism infrastructure in Judea and Samaria that will carry out attacks in different forms, and we must work aggressively and determinately against this,” Ya’alon said.
At the same time, Israel must exercise “responsibility and good judgment to calm the situation on the ground,” he said.
Ya’alon held an evaluation meeting with Central Command senior officers, and praised them for their “important and impressive” work in thwarting terrorism together with the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency).
“The Palestinians prefer to act against us unilaterally in international bodies in order to harm Israel’s legitimacy, but the harsh incitement in social media and institutionalized media by Palestinian Authority senior members leads to a series of incidents and lone terrorists,” the defense minister stated.