Spent Gaza Rocket. Illustrative. By Joshua Spurlock
The Palestinian unity deal that led to a government supported by Hamas is looking more and more like a threat to regional security. Hamas has long been supported by Iran, and while the sides had a falling out over disagreements regarding Syria, they are acting friendly now.
One former senior Hamas official even went so far as to thank Iran for their support on Wednesday, according to the Fars News Agency. Meanwhile, the same day that report was released, a Gaza rocket hit southern Israel. Remember, all this is after the extremists Hamas reconciled with the “moderate” Fatah faction. Guess who’s winning that deal?
The IDF spokesperson’s Twitter page said no injuries were reported in the attack, but the Palestinian violence towards Israel is still unsettling.
“It was supposed to be a quiet day at school for children in Israel, but this morning #Gaza terrorists fired a rocket at southern #Israel,” the IDF spokesperson wrote on Twitter.
The attack came the same day that former Advisor of the Palestinian Hamas Resistance Movement in the Gaza Strip Youssef Rezqeh told Fars, “The relentless supports of the Islamic Republic of Iran and its stances in supporting the Palestinian government in the Gaza Strip in the last seven years have helped the government to overcome many problems and obstacles.”
Iran has long been accused of trying to smuggle weapons to Hamas, and Iranian weapons en route to Gaza have been intercepted by Israel.
Rezqeh hinted at that militaristic aid in saying that the “resistance” especially was thankful for Iranian support after the wars with Israel in 2009 and 2012.
Hamas certainly isn’t making it appear that the new Palestinian government is interested in peace with Israel—despite their alliance with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, the supposed peace partner for Israel. If anything, it appears that Hamas’ presence in the Palestinian system will reintroduce extremism and violence to that authority.
(By Joshua Spurlock, www.themideastupdate.com, June 11, 2014)