Gaza Militant: Hamas Stopping Rocket Fire into Israel

by Avi Issacharoff
Haaretz
April 12, 2010

http://www.jewishpolicycenter.org/1665/gaza-militant-hamas-stopping-rocket-fire-into

Hamas is forcing other Gaza Palestinian factions to guarantee they do not launch rockets or mortar bombs at Israel, a source told the French AFP news agency on Monday.

The source, a member of the Strip's Islamic Jihad militant group, told AFP that members of Hamas' security force arrested four Islamic Jihad militants, forcing them to sign a document stating that they pledged not to fire Qassam missiles or mortar bombs at Israel.

The official added that the Hamas men also confiscated the weapons found on the Islamic Jihad militants.

Last week, Hamas spokesman Ayman Taha told the BBC that Hamas was working to curb rocket attacks against Israel by Gaza militants.

"The government in Gaza is in charge of the situation, and it does know clearly who launches rockets," Taha told the BBC. "It is working hard to deter any faction from acting individually.

Also last week, the London-based newspaper Asharq Al Awsat reported that armed Hamas forces in the Gaza Strip detained several Palestinians who had fired Qassam rockets at Israel.

The Hamas forces arrested several militants linked to a radical Islamist group in the northern Strip, the report said, an area in which the ruling movement has recently bolstered its security presence to prevent rocket fire.

The head of the Hamas government in Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh, said his government is in contact with other Palestinian factions to reach an agreement over a rocket cease-fire - in order to, in his words, "protect our nation."

Meanwhile, however, Hamas politburo chief Khaled Meshal said in Damascus that all options for confronting Israel remain open, including war. "We will do everything to obtain the rights stolen from us, including confrontation with the enemy," he told journalists, adding that in the event of war, Hamas militants would fight "like men."

Related Topics:  Palestinian Rockets  |  Avi Issacharoff receive the latest by email: subscribe to the free jewish policy center mailing list