Armed Palestinian factions in Gaza: Region on verge of explosion

Armed Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip warned that the situation in the region was on the verge of exploding.

By Daniel Siryoti, Israel Hayom via JNS

Following an emergency meeting in a situation room in Gaza, the armed Palestinian factions in the Strip issued a joint statement Wednesday blaming Israel for the escalation in Gaza.

“The Zionist enemy carries the responsibility for the escalation in Gaza, and we will not allow the continued attack on activists in the marches of return. All signs indicate that the situation is on the verge of exploding as a result of the blockade, and we will not agree to the people in Gaza dying of starvation,” the statement read.

“The Zionist occupier’s continued evasion from the understandings necessitates the Arab and international representatives pressure the occupying Zionist government and demand it adhere to the understandings for calm,” the factions continued.

The groups also came out against the Palestinian Authority, saying, “The continued sanctions imposed on the strip by Abu Mazen [Palestinian Authority head Mahmoud Abbas] and his people position the region on a powder keg that will explode first in the face of the Zionist enemy that allows for the non-payment of salaries.”

‘Shocked by the Arab world’s silence’

In their statement, the Palestinian factions said they were “shocked by the Arab world’s silence in light of the Zionist enemy’s crimes against the Palestinian people and the Islamic holy sites.”

“We call on the international and Islamic institutions to take responsibility as far as concerns the Zionist crimes and stop them,” they said. “We will not abandon out brothers in the Zionist occupier’s prisons and we will forever remember the blood of the martyrs, which has not been spilled in vain.”