A newspaper article published Sunday has incensed the armed resistance wing of Hamas, the Al Qassam Brigades. The piece claims that Al Qassam intended to assassinate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. And the Israelis claimed they foiled the plot.
An Al Qassam spokesperson, Abu Obaida, told PNN Sunday, "This news lacks credibility, it is untrue, and its aim is to plant internal discord with Palestine and sabotage this time in which Fateh and Hamas are attempting to reconcile their recent disagreements."
He added, "And practically speaking, Al Qassam would never plan an internal operation as our efforts are focused on defending the Palestinian land and people against Zionist aggressions."
Abu Obaida considered that spreading such news also aims to distort the image of the Al Qassam Brigades, a long-standing armed resistance wing exercising its legitimate right under international law to defend against occupation.
He also said, "Such news aims to ignite a civil war."
However, Palestinian Legislative Council deputy and Fateh member, Mohammad Dahlan, did announce that a tunnel was discovered passing under an area near President Abbas’ Gaza residence. But Dahlan thought that he may be a target as he works nearby, however nothing ever came of Dahlan’s fears or allegations. But the accuracy of those statements is unclear as well as they were published in media outlets with questionable sources.
The source of the latest tension is clear. The British Sunday Times Newspaper reported today that Israeli intelligence agencies recently aborted an Al Qassam conspiracy to assassinate Abbas. The Times used Israeli intelligence sources in its reporting and conjecture based on the President canceling a trip to the Gaza Strip two weeks ago.
The newspaper also used a source "close to Mahmoud Abbas," which allegedly said that Hamas considers Abu Mazen the main obstacle to complete control of the Palestinian arena, therefore his assassination is necessary.
These are vicious allegations during an extremely sensitive point in Palestine, where the US-led political and economic blockade is starving the population of its due salaries, while the Israeli administration uses the time to increase attacks on the West Bank and Gaza Strip, the takeover of East Jerusalem, to expand settlements and finish the Wall, all the while cutting the West Bank in half. That is the real story.
