Commenting on the Israeli occupation’s decision to close the fishing zone off the coast of the beleaguered Gaza Strip and its aggression against Gaza yesterday, Hamas official Dr. Basem Naim stated the following:

The Israeli occupation bears the consequences of evading the ceasefire understandings and giving false pretexts for this like fires resulted from incendiary balloons. According to our observation, the fires are caused by hot weather or burning crops by Israeli farmers for financial reasons. The Israeli occupation, however, claimed that such fires were caused by arson balloons.

We do think that this behaviour is a desperate attempt by Israeli leaders to find a way out the internal crises in the Israeli occupation, especially the upcoming elections and the formation of a new government. Indeed, the Israeli leaders want to export such crises to Gaza at the expense of our people and their freedom and life.

Hamas confirms that the decision of the Palestinian factions is to abide by the terms of the final understandings as long as the occupation adheres to them. The Palestinian factions do not intend to escalate the situation.

Therefore, we hold the Israeli occupation responsible for bombarding areas in Gaza yesterday, and we call on the Israeli leaders to reverse their clumsy decisions, which will only complicate the situation and generate tension.

Dr. Basem Naim

Hamas Official