Al-Quds Brigades claim readiness to attack inside Israeli territory

Monday November 05, 2007 14:36 by Rami Almeghari - IMEMC & Agencies

The al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of Islamic Jihad, On Monday announced that they are ready to carry out bombing attacks inside Israeli territory.

a Palestinian homemade shell / archive photo

In an interview with the London-based al-Quds al-Arabi newspaper, Abu Hamza, the spokesman for the brigades, stated that the so-called ‘manufacturing unit’ of the group is currently working on developing homemade shells, ahead of likely large invasion of Gaza.

Abu Hamza confirmed that the brigades had a stockpile of homemade shells, enough to last for approximately two years at the current rate of fire.

The spokesperson added that the "Zionist occupation [Israel] had failed in Southern Lebanon; a failure that led it to attempt success in Gaza, but the resistance in here is willing to make Israel fail again."

Of the latest Israeli effort to cut Gaza's electricity, Abu Hamza branded it a "collective punishment" against the Palestinian people.

Abu Hamza also revealed the terms under which the movement would consider a ceasefire, stating that such a situation would require a range of measures that the Israeli government currently refuses to consider.

“In case there is a Palestinian consensus on a comprehensive ceasefire in both the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, in which the ‘ Zionist occupation’ shows commitment to halting extrajudicial assassination attempts, daily attacks on Palestinian areas and mass arrests of Palestinians, the group will consider commitment to such a truce," the spokesman stated.

Many Palestinian resistance factions in Gaza have recently reported that they are preparing for all-out attack on the coastal region by the Israeli military.

Such suspicions are based both on the comments of Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak, who, on two occasions, has warned of the likelihood of such an attack, and on recent fortifications and maneuvers made by Israeli forces near the Gaza-Israel border.

In April 2006, a six-month-long ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinians broke down, when Israel killed 9 Palestinians, including 8 in the West Bank.

gaza strip | palestinian attacks | news report rami at imemc dot org