Hamas, Gaza groups: Israel's crimes won't go unpunished

Terror groups say they'll reach consensus on how to respond to recent "targeted assassination"; announcement follows weekend IAF strike.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
Armed Hamas members celebrate Mubarak resignation 311 R (photo credit: REUTERS/Mohammed Salem)
Armed Hamas members celebrate Mubarak resignation 311 R
(photo credit: REUTERS/Mohammed Salem)
Hamas and other armed terrorist groups in the Gaza Strip on Sunday vowed that "Israel's latest crimes will not go unpunished," during a joint press conference.
Repeating similar statements made over the weekend, the groups said they were preparing a response to recent IDF targeted assassinations, the latest of which took place overnight Friday. In the operation, IAF aircraft killed three Hamas men, including a senior member of Hamas' Izzadin Kassam Brigades.
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The IDF said that the men were part of a terrorist cell that was preparing to kidnap Israelis ahead of and during the upcoming Passover holiday.
Following the operation, on Saturday the Counter-Terror Bureau urged Israelis to leave the Sinai Peninsula immediately, after revealing that Israeli intelligence agencies had obtained concrete information of plans by terrorists to kidnap or attack Israeli nationals vacationing there over the upcoming Pessah holiday.
The bureau said that some terrorists were already in the Sinai.
The Gaza-based groups said on Sunday that the type of retaliation was being discussed between them and that they would reach a consensus before acting.
On Saturday, the DFLP in Gaza announced that following the strike, it was withdrawing from a recently-announced informal ceasefire, Ma'an reported.
In a statement, the group said that Israel "would have to bear the repercussions of this crime." An earlier statement released by the group had urged other Palestinian terrorist groups to reconsider the ceasefire.
IAF aircraft killed three terrorists and critically wounded another in the Gaza Strip early on Saturday, the IDF spokesperson said.
The spokesperson said the air strike targeted "a terrorist squad planning to kidnap Israelis in the Sinai Peninsula and Israel" over the upcoming Passover holiday.
Gaza residents said the planes fired on a car the three men were traveling in near the town of Khan Younis. According to Ma'an, residents of Khan Younis reported hearing the single-missile strike.
Ma'an cited sources as saying that the IAF targeted a white Toyota that was traveling between Khan Younis and Deir Al-Balah, completely obliterating the vehicle.