Lieberman calls for assassination of Hamas leaders in Gaza

Leader of the Yisrael Beiteinu party MK Avigdor Lieberman has called for the assassination of Hamas leaders and senior commanders of Al-Qassam Brigades should they refuse to release three Israelis and the bodies of two soldiers, Masralarabia.com reported yesterday.

Speaking during a visit to the Israeli settlement of Sderot, Lieberman said: “We must be clearer… we have to inform Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar, Marwan Issa and Ismail Haniyeh to start preparing their coffins if they do not release the Israelis in their hands as well as the bodies of the two soldiers captured during ‘Operation Protective Edge’.”

The comments came during a conference held to discuss the threat of Palestinian tunnels which pass under the Gaza-Israel border. “In the past few days, the issue of the tunnels has been widely discussed and I have nothing to add. But the difference between me and the other speakers is that I have been warning since ‘Protective Edge’.”

“I would like to quote the Director of Policy and Political-Military Affairs at the Ministry of Defence Amos Gilad, who is credible. He said: ‘Hamas intend to occupy a settlement or two or three or a full city in order to carry out carnage.’”

“I hope this nightmare does not come true, but hopes are not enough. We have to work very quickly in order to change a lot of things regarding the increasing threats against Israel, which are coming from the Gaza Strip.”

Lieberman said that Hamas had “initiated” everything in the past and “we only act in response to its initiatives.” He added: “Hamas is always before us. I say we do not have to ignore the development of its rockets. We saw its technological abilities as it intercepted our drones and the computer networks of Ben Gurion Airport.”

The former Israeli foreign minister rejected the idea of building a seaport under international supervision in Gaza “because Hamas is immediately going to start smuggling weapons… The issue of the seaport is an escape from the reality.”

He said that the time had come to replace Hamas in Gaza. “I do not mean Abbas of Dahlan because both were there and they lost.”

Lieberman criticised making Qatar a mediator between Israel and Hamas instead of Turkey, Egypt and the international peace envoy.

To hit Hamas hard, he called for distorting it throughout setting up a special TV channel and news sites targeting it and disseminating negative news about the group in order to “poison the minds” of the Gazans.