On December 8, 2005, the Hamas’ public relations division published on the Hamas’ website a call for all the Palestinian factions to renew their attacks against Israel. The call, which comes three weeks before the end of the “Tahdi’a” (“calm”) period agreed upon between the Hamas and the Palestinian Authority (PA) on March 18, 2005, in Cairo. A Hamas press release called for renewed attacks on Israel in the light of “the continuation of attacks by the Zionist occupier against the Palestinian people with assassinations and destruction”. The press release condemns the “world’s silence” in the face of Israeli activity in the territories and condemns the PA for conducting “vicious” arrests of activists from the Palestinian factions, especially Islamic Jihad, as a concession to Israeli demands and American pressure. The Hamas movement stressed that “resistance to Israeli aggression does not contradict the ‘calm’ agreement it signed with the PA, since the commitment to ‘calm’ does not mean disregarding continuing Zionist aggression against the Palestinian people.”[1]

On December 9, 2005, the day after the public relations division released the statement to the press, Khalid Mash’al, head of the Hamas’ political bureau who resides in Damascus, clarified that the Hamas movement does not intend to renew the period of calm “while the Palestinian people enters a new round in the struggle (against Israel) and while Israel does not release prisoners.”[2] The statement was backed by other spokesmen of the Hamas movement, such as Sami Abu-Zuhri and Mushir Al-Masri, who stated that “Hamas is only committed to the ‘calming’ until the end of 2005 and that is its final stance.”[3]

On December 10, 2005, Hamas’ armed wing ‘Iz al-Deen al-Qassam Brigades published a statement on its website emphasizing that, in light of the “Zionist escalation” in activities against Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, they refuse to extend the period of calm and are ready-morally and materially-to renew their activities against Israel when the period ends.[4]

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Notes:

[1] “Hamas tad’u li-al-tasadi li-al-‘udwan al-sahyuni wa-tudin qiyam al-sulta bi-i’tiqal al-Mujahideen” (“Hamas calls for opposing the Zionist aggression and condemns the arrest of the Mujahideen by the PA”), The Palestinian Information Center, (December 8, 2005). Internet: https://www.palestine-info.net/arabic/hamas/statements/2005/8_12_05_1.htm. (Arabic).

[2] “Al-Qassam: Mujahiduna ‘ala jahiziya tama li-isti’naf al-muqawama bi-kafati ashkaliha” (“Al-Qassam: our warriors are ready to renew the resistance in all its forms”), ‘Iz al-Deen al-Qassam Brigades. Internet: https://www.alqassam.ws/arabic/?action=detail&&sid=1977. (Arabic); “Hamas taltazim bi-al-tahdi’a ma’a Isra’il hata nihayat al-‘am” (“Hamas is committed to the claming with Israel until the end of the year”), aljazeera, (December 9, 2005). Internet: https://www.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/F3A0A80E-7F39-49C1-BCE9-705D24D05B37.htm. (Arabic).

[3] “Hamas: al-tahdi’a ma’a Isra’il mustamirra hata nihayat al-‘am” (“Hamas: the ‘calming’ with Israel will continue to the end of the year”, al-Ayam (PA), (December 10, 2005), pp. 1, 21. (Arabic); Nidal, al-Mughrabi, “Hamas says truce with Israel on until year’s end”, Reuters, (December 9, 2005). Internet: https://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticleSearch.aspx?storyID=198935+09-Dec-2005+RTRS&srch=hamas

[4] “Al-Qassam: our warriors are ready to renew the resistance in all its forms”, Ibid.