Yahya Sinwar (C), Hamas’s Gaza Strip chief, waves to supporters in Gaza City, on April 14, 2023. (MOHAMMED ABED / AFP)
An unnamed Hamas official tells the Wall Street Journal that while there is slow progress on an agreement for a temporary ceasefire and hostage deal, it seems unlikely that it will be reached before Ramadan’s expected start on March 10, and instead may come to fruition by the first weekend of the Muslim holy month.
The report also says Egyptian and Qatari officials say there has been no contact with the Gaza leader of Hamas, Yahya Sinwar, for at least a week.
Yesterday, Israel did not send a negotiating team to Cairo after receiving an unsatisfactory response from Hamas on the latest framework for a hostage deal hammered out in Paris last weekend. The Gaza-based terror organization refused to address Jerusalem’s demand to provide a list of living hostages and to lock down how many Palestinian prisoners Israel must release for every hostage freed, an Israeli official said.
Unnamed officials cited by Channel 12, Ynet and others said Jerusalem suspects Sinwar has no intention of reaching an agreement in the coming days and hopes to escalate violence over Ramadan.
In such a scenario, Israel is wary of an escalation not just along its borders with Gaza and Lebanon, but also across the West Bank, where tensions are high, as well as in Jerusalem, where clashes over the Temple Mount and access to the holy site are widely expected.
The PIJ comments are also linked to those made by Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, who has called for escalation during Ramadan.
By SETH J. FRANTZMANUpdated: MARCH 3, 2024 18:48Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists participate in an anti-Israel military parade marking the 36th anniversary of the movement’s foundation in Gaza City, October 4, 2023.(photo credit: MOHAMMED SALEM/REUTERS)
Palestinian Islamic Jihad is calling for Ramadan to be a “month of terror” and seeks to escalate attacks in the West Bank and Gaza. In a recent speech, Abu Hamza, the spokesman for PIJ’s Al-Quds Brigades, said he wants Arab countries in the region and pro-Iranian groups to continue to “unify” various arenas and fronts against Israel.
This is the latest indication that terrorist groups plan to seek an escalation in hostilities over the next month. Hamza’s remarks were published by Beirut-based Al Mayadeen news channel, which is pro-Iranian and frequently highlights Hamas and Hezbollah attacks.
This comes amid some hope for a hostage, prisoner, and ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. The US is pushing for such a deal. But Hamas has continued to make it difficult by refusing to hand over a list of names of the living hostages.
Palestinian Islamic Jihad is a proxy of Iran. It has armed men in Gaza and the West Bank, and its leaders often reside in Damascus, where they sometimes leave to meet with their Iranian handlers in Tehran or to coordinate with Hamas and Hezbollah.
‘Unity of the battlefields’
The terminology used by PIJ ahead of Ramadan is part of the terminology Iran has used over the years to describe its strategy against Israel. This includes references to “unity of the battlefields,” which is a term for “unity of the arenas” or “unity of the fronts.”
HAMAS LEADER Ismail Haniyeh (right) and Palestinian Islamic Jihad chief Ziyad al-Nakhalah attend a meeting of Palestinian factions, in Beirut, in 2020. (credit: AZIZ TAHER/REUTERS)
These arenas include Iranian-backed groups in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and Yemen. Iran has sought to surround Israel with threats that now exist along an arc of 5,000 miles, from Lebanon via Syria and Iraq to the Red Sea and then back to Gaza.
There are at least seven different “fronts,” according to Iran. Israeli officials have also mentioned these fronts. Iran wants to “unify” them. This means using the Hamas massacre on October 7 to increase attacks from Hezbollah and Iranian-backed groups in Syria and Iraq.
Although PIJ is one of the smallest of Iran’s proxies, it is still a menace. It has carried out attacks in Gaza and during the pause in fighting in late November. It has held hostages in Gaza, and its members played a role in the hostage releases.
The group has stockpiled thousands of rockets in the Gaza Strip. In the West Bank, PIJ stockpiles M-16-style rifles, with many of them stolen and trafficked in recent years.
PIJ is now calling on groups in Arab countries to not “lag in the battle led by the heroes of the resistance in the Gaza Strip, on behalf of the Islamic nation, especially those who possess armies, planes, and cannons.”
It’s not clear what countries Hamza thinks would now join and back Hamas. However, he is trying to shame the neighboring states.
“Isn’t it time for you to raise your guns like the free people in Yemen, Lebanon, and Iraq?” Hamza asked. “Isn’t it time for you to take off the garment of slavery and humiliation to America, the Great Satan, and follow the example of the honorable?”
PIJ has praised the Palestinian terrorists continuing to fight in Gaza. In recent days, the group’s members have carried out attacks in the Zeitoun neighborhood near Gaza City, Hamza said. The IDF has been operating in that area over the last two weeks, seeking to clear it of terrorists.
Hamza also called for attacks on “the occupation’s military checkpoints” and to “cut off the road to the settlers.” The first day of Ramadan should become an international day to support Gaza and “mobilize” in “all the arenas,” he said.
This appears to indicate that Iran is plotting to escalate during Ramadan. The West wants a ceasefire during Ramadan, but it has historically been the month used by terrorists and extremists as an excuse to increase attacks.“We are certain that the single body of the nation will do the impossible and will make the month of Ramadan historic days to wash away shame and threaten the existence of the Israeli enemy entity and global arrogance,” Hamza said.
The terrorist group’s comments are also linked to those made by Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, who has called for an escalation of hostilities during Ramadan.
Protesters hold pictures of the hostages kidnapped during the Oct. 7 Hamas invasion, outside the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands, Friday, Jan. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Patrick Post)
Israel’s War Cabinet and senior government officials unanimously accepted the decision not to send a delegation.
By JNS
Qatar told Israel on Sunday that ceasefire talks will not be able to advance, after Hamas failed to meet Jerusalem’s demand to provide a list of those hostages still alive.
As a result, Israel will not send a delegation to the negotiations in Cairo on Sunday, after it was reported earlier in the day that U.S. and Emirati delegations were joining Hamas representatives in the Egyptian capital.
Israel’s War Cabinet and senior government officials unanimously accepted the decision not to send a delegation.
“Hamas refuses to provide clear answers regarding the list of abductees and the number of prisoners who will be released, and because of this situation, there is no reason to send an Israeli delegation to Cairo,” Israeli government sources said, according to Ynet.
“This is the position of all the professionals and not just the prime minister. At the moment, Hamas’s answer is that there is no answer. They are trying to impose on us. … [T]here is no reason to send an Israeli delegation,” the official said.
HAMAS GRABBING POWER IN PLACES IDF CONTROLLED EARLY IN WAR
A senior Hamas official had earlier told AFP that if Israel met its demands, which include a full military withdrawal from the Strip and an end to the current war, it would “pave the way for an agreement within the next 24-48 hours.”
Jerusalem has rejected as “delusional” Hamas’s demands for an Israeli military withdrawal and an end to the war that would leave the terrorist group in power.
The Israeli War Cabinet has not wavered from its stated goals to defeat Hamas, free the hostages and ensure that Gaza Strip can never again threaten Israel.
Additionally, the terrorist group is demanding a significant increase in humanitarian aid into the Strip, with the Hamas official saying it is demanding “the entry of at least 400 to 500 trucks per day.”
A U.S. official told reporters on Saturday that “there’s a framework deal” for a ceasefire that “the Israelis have more or less accepted.”
The six-week ceasefire called for in the framework agreement would also see hundreds of Palestinian terrorists released from Israeli prisons in exchange for Israeli hostages captured on Oct. 7.
