Israeli tribute to Palestinian Authority security support "confirms threat to West Bank Palestinians"

The Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) has called the tribute paid by the Israeli Defence Minister and the Director of Israel’s intelligence service to the Palestinian Authority for its security cooperation with the occupying power “a threat to the people of the occupied West Bank”. In a press statement, Hamas said, “The blessings given by Ehud Barak and Yuval Diskin confirm the growing and widespread belief that the main concern of the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah is the security of the Zionist state and not the defence of citizen’s rights as they struggle under Israel’s military occupation.

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Spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said on 19 January, “This security cooperation emphasizes that there is a real threat to the lives of our people in the West Bank, the national project, political pluralism and freedom of opinion and expression.”

According to Mr. Barhoum, “We [in Hamas] believe that any support from any regional or international party for the PA security services and the Zionist occupier, or any blessing for such security cooperation, means more violations of our people’s freedoms, and more bloodshed and death for Palestinians in the West Bank.” All of this and the fact that people under occupation have a right to self-defence, said Mr. Barhoum, “is contrary to all international norms and laws”. Any support or cooperation with the Zionist state, whether in terms of security, finance, the military or politics, added Mr. Barhoum, “is active involvement in Zionist terrorism and violence against the Palestinian people”. He called on the PA in the occupied West Bank to end such security cooperation with the occupation authority immediately and give priority to the security of Palestinian citizens, including those who expose the crimes of the Israeli occupiers. “The PA in Ramallah,” he concluded, “should not provide the Israeli military occupation with cover allowing it to commit more crimes.”