“If the enemy does not carry out its obligations, we will not hesitate for a moment to resume the fighting,” says terror group’s leader.
By: Lauren Marcus
The head of the Gaza-based Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terror group warned Israel on Monday that more rocket launches will occur if the Jewish State does not release prisoners affiliated with PIJ within the next week.
Ziad Nakhaleh, who was meeting with Iranian military officials in Tehran during the onset of Operation Breaking Dawn, told the PIJ-run news channel Palestine Today that the ceasefire with Israel was agreed upon with very specific concessions in mind.
“I want to make it clear that if Israel, the enemy, does not abide by these demands that it agreed to, then we would treat this as if there was no [ceasefire] at all, the [ceasefire] agreement was void, and we will resume the fighting, God willing,” Nakaleh said.
If the Jewish State does not hold up its end of the bargain, he added, PIJ will not hesitate to engage in another round of fighting.
“If the enemy does not carry out its obligations according to the agreement, we will not hesitate for a moment to resume the fighting, and then Allah can do with us as He wills.”
The terror leader said that the ceasefire was dependent upon the release of two high-proifle PIJ prisoners.
“From the very beginning, we insisted that the two leaders be freed: the brother on hunger strike [Khalil Awawdeh], and Bassam Al-Saadi,” he said.
Al-Saadi, the head of PIJ’s Samaria division, was arrested in Jenin last week. Israel launched a preemptive strike on PIJ assets in the Gaza Strip last Friday, after receiving intelligence that the terror group was planning an attack on Israeli civilians in retaliation for Al-Saadi’s detainment.
“The enemy tried to proceed slowly in agreeing to this demand, but in the end it has conceded to these demands, with explicit Egyptian guarantees that our mujahid brother Khalil Awawdeh will set out for the hospital tomorrow, and then he will go home,” Nakhaleh continued.
“As for Bassam Al-Saadi, we received an explicit promise, in writing, that Egypt pledges to follow up on his release in the shortest possible time frame.”
In other related news, TPS reported that Hezbollah’s Secretary-General Hasan Nasrallah has threatened to attack Israel in September for the fourth time in recent weeks, saying it “has to be ready for all options.”
Speaking on Ashura Day on Tuesday, the terror group’s leader reiterated that on the issue of the disputed maritime border between Israel and Lebanon and the nearby gas fields, “we are waiting for the responses to Lebanese State’s requests, but I tell you that we have to be ready for all options.”
The common Israel-Lebanon maritime boundary is disputed between the two countries. The issue has been under discussion for over a decade. The focus of both sides is the oil and gas discoveries in the territorial waters which are under dispute.
In recent years, the two countries held talks, mediated by the U.S. and hosted by the Office of the United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon (UNSCOL) at Rosh Hanikra.
Amos Hochstein, the Biden administration’s Special Envoy for International Energy, is currently serving as mediator. He has traveled between Jerusalem and Beirut in recent weeks, and while expressing optimism, has not brought any final resolution.
Israel has recently begun to develop the Karish gas field in the area, and Hezbollah is now threatening war by September.
In his address, Nasrallah said to Israel that “many threats were made against Lebanon, don’t miscalculate. Any Aggression on Lebanon won’t go unpunished.”
(WorldIsraelNews.com & TPS)
