Hamas, Islamic Jihad call for a third intifada

Calls issued in protest against visits by Jews to the Temple Mount; Hamas says it has not abandoned option of suicide bombings.

By KHALED ABU TOAMEH
Hamas's Kassam Brigades 370 (photo credit: REUTERS/Ahmed Jadallah)
Hamas's Kassam Brigades 370
(photo credit: REUTERS/Ahmed Jadallah)
On the eve of PA President Mahmoud Abbas’s speech at the UN General Assembly, a number of Palestinian groups called for launching a third intifada against Israel.
The calls were issued in protest against visits by Jewish groups to the Temple Mount.
The groups called on Palestinians to take to the streets following Friday prayers to express their “solidarity with the Aksa Mosque in the face of Israeli aggression.”
Hamas’s armed wing, Izaddin Kassam, also threatened to resume suicide bombings against Israel.
Abu Obaida, spokesman for the group, told reporters in the Gaza Strip that Hamas has not abandoned the option of suicide bombings.
“We’re ready to teach the occupation a lesson in case it launches an attacks against the Gaza Strip,” he said.
Abu Obaida called on Palestinians to wage a third intifada against Israel in response to Israeli efforts to “judaize Jerusalem.”
He accused Israel of exploiting the current “futile” peace talks with the PA to “liquidate the Palestinian cause and create new facts on the ground.”
Islamic Jihad leader Ahmed al-Mudallal also urged Palestinians to wage a new intifada against Israel.
“A new intifada should erupt against the Zionist enemy and we believe that our people have the will and ability to liberate Palestine from the river to the sea,” he said during a rally in the Gaza Strip.
Accusing Israel of working to replace the Aksa Mosque with a Jewish temple, the Islamic Jihad leader called on the Palestinian Authority to pull out of the peace talks.
“The enemy is using these talks to pursue its crimes against the Aksa Mosque,” he charged.
A group called the Palestinian Youth Intifada Coalition issued a call to Palestinians to demonstrate following Friday prayers in protest against the Jewish visits to the Temple Mount.
The group said that its call for widespread protests has won the backing of Fatah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and The Palestinian National Initiative.
Masked gunmen belonging to Fatah’s armed wing, Aksa Martyrs Brigade, held a press conference in Gaza City during which they threatened to launch attacks against Israel.
“The enemy will soon pay a heavy price for its crimes in Jerusalem,” a spokesman for the group said.
Following the press conference, Hamas arrested four of the gunmen after forcing them to uncover their faces.