The Times of Israel reported Thursday that terror groups affiliated with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah movment have joined Hamas and other Islamist groups in firing rockets into Israel.
Palestinian Affairs correspondent Elhanan Miller of the Times writes:
The Nidal Al-Amody force of Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades claimed responsibility for firing Grad and 107 millimeter rockets toward Ashkelon, Sderot, Netivot, Kibbutz Ein Hashlosha and the Sufa Crossing from Gaza, starting at 5 p.m Wednesday. Communiques specifying the attacks were published on Fatah’s official Facebook page.
Early Thursday morning, another armed force associated with Fatah, the Abdul Qader Husseini Battalions, claimed responsibility for launching two Grad rockets at Ashkelon and four mortar shells at Kibbutz Nir Oz near Khan Yunis shortly after one a.m.
Khaled Abu Toameh writes that the participation of Fatah-affiliated groups in the terror war against Israel puts Abbas in an uncomfortable position.
What is happening in the Gaza Strip these days is not just another confrontation between Israel and Hamas. It is a confrontation between Israel on the one hand and Hamas and several armed groups, including Fatah, on the other hand.
That is why Abbas finds it difficult to condemn the rocket attacks on Israel. Such a move would put him on a collision course not only with Hamas, but also with Fatah, Islamic Jihad, the Popular Resistance Movement and at least 10 other jihadi cells operating in the Gaza Strip.
With Fatah joining Hamas in firing rockets, Abu Mazen is either not "non-violent" or not relevant – he can't be both. http://t.co/ASKOOWDwYG
— Robert Satloff (@robsatloff) July 10, 2014
The active participation of Fatah in the terror attacks against Israel comes soon after Fatah declared on its Facebook page that joining with Hamas to fight Israel “is what we want.”
Fatah: "We want to fight Israel together with Hamas" http://t.co/JDnBKAZ34f pic.twitter.com/yfDl2IhMwy
— (((Adam Milstein))) (@AdamMilstein) July 9, 2014
The participation of Fatah in the terror war against Israel further undermines Abbas’s “claim that the unity government meets international standards which includes the rejection of violence.” With Fatah now implicated in war crimes, it makes Abbas’s planned application to the International Criminal Court look even less well thought out.
[Photo: كتائب شهداء الاقصى – فلسطين / YouTube ]