The terrorist organization Hamas blames Israel for the assassination of one of its military leaders and warns of retaliation.
Hamas has threatened a military response against Israel for the death of Mazen Fukaha, a senior leader of the terrorist organization’s armed wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, who was mysteriously killed on Friday night at his home in southern Gaza City.
“Hamas and its fighting brigades place the full responsibility for this reprehensible crime on the Israeli occupation and its collaborators,” stated the terrorist organization, which has controlled the Gaza Strip since 2007.
Furthermore, “The occupation knows that the blood of those struggling in the way of God will not be wasted.”
The terrorist organization’s military branch made a statement of its own. “We will make the enemy regret the day that it thought it could start to carry out assassinations,” the al-Qassam Brigades stated.
Most recently, Hamas indefinitely closed its side of the Erez crossing into the Gaza Strip on Sunday morning as it conducts further investigations into Fukaha’s death, which occurred in the wake of a recent spike in rocket attacks against Israel from Gaza.
There has been no comment from Israel.
Fukaha, 38, had originally been sentenced to life in prison by an Israeli court in 2002 for his role in a suicide bombing attack. He was later released in 2011 as part of a prisoner exchange agreement in return for former Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who had been in Hamas’ captivity since the summer of 2006.
Several thousand Palestinians participated in his funeral in Gaza City on Saturday.
Also on Saturday, hundreds attended a symbolic funeral in Fukaha’s hometown of Tubas, a Palestinian city located in Samaria.
By: Jonathan Benedek, World Israel News