Emir of Qatar, Meshaal discuss Israel's actions in the West Bank

Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani and the head of Hamas political bureau Khaled Mashaal discussed, during a phone call yesterday, the latest developments in the Israeli escalation against the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Qatar News Agency reported.

During the call, Meshaal briefed the Emir “on the Israeli collective punishment campaign against the Palestinian people”.

The Israeli army waged a wide operation in the West Bank in search of three Israeli settlers who disappeared two weeks ago from near the Gush Etzion settlement bloc near Hebron, in the south of the West Bank.

He announced, during an interview with Al-Jazeera on Monday evening, that his movement does not have information about the three settlers’ disappearance. “According to the Israeli narrative, three settlers recruited in the Israeli occupation army have disappeared, yet no party has claimed responsibility of their disappearance until now, and we do not have information about what happened to them so we cannot confirm nor deny,” he said.

Adding: “If, indeed, any Palestinian group is behind the kidnapping, those who did it must be saluted because the Palestinian prisoners should be released.”

Meshaal ruled out Israel might have fabricated the case for political gains, internal or external, saying “I do not believe that any Israeli dares to tamper with the Israeli public mood or the sensitive security issue in Israel.”

He stressed that Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu does not need a pretext to escalate violence against Palestinian.

Since the disappearance of three settlers two weeks ago, the Israeli army has waged a campaign of mass arrests against the Palestinians in the West Bank and arrested over 500 Palestinians, most of them leaders and activists in the Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas.

No Palestinian party has claimed responsibility for the abduction, but Netanyahu said he held Hamas responsible for the abduction, which the movement refused without confirming or denying the allegations.