Hamas vows to defend against any potential Israeli war

Hamas has warned Israel amid reports that Tel Aviv might be planning a new war to destroy tunnels vital to transfer of essential supplies for the Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip.

Hamas spokesman Mahmoud al-Zahar said during a news briefing that the Palestinians would defend themselves against any new Israeli war on the coastal strip of 1.8 million people. 

“We are not looking for any confrontation with Israel, but if they are going to launch an aggression, we have to defend ourselves,” Zahar said.

Asked why Hamas was building tunnels, Zahar said the lifeline tunnels are “defensive” in nature as they serve to bring basic commodities into Gaza.

The Palestinian official also warned the United States, Israel’s main supporter, against arming Tel Aviv with advanced weapons and fighter jets.

“You are speaking about tunnels? You are not speaking about F-35s? You are not speaking about the nuclear bomb in Israel... The tunnels are a matter of self-defense,” the Hamas official told reporters.

Israeli and Egyptian forces have launched a campaign to destroy the tunnels in recent months in which dozens of Palestinians have lost their lives.

The Gaza Strip has been under a crippling Israeli siege since 2007. The blockade, which has cut off the territory from the outside world, has led to an economic and humanitarian crisis in the densely-populated enclave.

Israel has waged three wars on Gaza since 2008, including the devastating 50-day aggression of the summer of 2014.

The latest offensive began in early July that year and ended about two months later with a truce that took effect after indirect negotiations in Cairo.

Nearly 2,200 Palestinians, including 577 children, were killed in the onslaught. Over 11,100 others – including 3,374 children, 2,088 women and 410 elderly people – were also injured.

‘Fatah to blame for failing reconciliation’

Zahar also said the prospects of reconciliation with the Ramallah-based Fatah faction of President Mahmoud Abbas were slim.

He also accused Fatah of being responsible for the failure to form a functioning unity government.

“They (Fatah) have no will to achieve an agreement. There is no intention,” he said.

He also vowed that the resistance group would never recognize Israel, which Fatah has done and wants Hamas to do.

In 2014, a unity government was formed between the Hamas and Fatah movements, but later fell apart within months.

Fatah and Hamas have been at odds ever since the Palestinian resistance movement scored a landslide victory in Palestinian elections in 2006.

Hamas has ruled the impoverished and Israeli-blockaded Gaza Strip, while Fatah has set up headquarters in the occupied Palestinian territories in the West Bank.

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