Hamas threatened the Palestinian Authority Thursday after members of the organization were arrested in relation to terror attacks that killed four and injured two in the West Bank.
"This criminal campaign has crossed all red lines and constitutes direct cooperation with the enemy, in the clear light of day," said Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum.
On Tuesday the Palestinian Authority announced it had arrested the six terrorists who carried out the attacks one week earlier – four shooters and two accomplices.
"The arrests will only strengthen Hamas's determination to resist and bolster its painful hurting of the Zionist enemy," Barhoum said, accusing the Palestinian government in the West Bank of "treason and direct cooperation with the enemy".
He added that the arrests "prove once again the dangerous position of the 'Fatah authority' as a security agent protecting the enemy, exterminating the resistance, and destroying the Palestinian aim".
Barhoum called on Palestinian factions to rebel against the Palestinian Authority "in order to put an end to this treason".
In a message posted on its site, Hamas also threatened its rival, Fatah. "We call on you, Fatah militias, to learn from what happened in Gaza before the people reject you. You know well that the hands sent to
the heart of the enemy can reach you too. Learn the lesson before it's too late to change your mind," it said.
"We will not be able to sit by much longer," Hamas added in a message deemed by an Al-Jazeera commentator to be its most severe threat against Fatah since the group's 2007 takeover of the Gaza Strip.
Front Page Features