Hamas official accuses Israel of fabricating excuses to escalate tension against Gaza

A senior Hamas official, Basem Naim accused Israel of “fabricating vague excuses” to escalate against the Gaza Strip, Thursday.

“The Israeli occupation bears responsibility for the consequences of evading and retreating from the implementation of the recent truce understandings in Gaza,” Naim said in a statement.

He went on to add that Israel claims that fires in the vicinity of the Gaza Strip are caused by incendiary balloons when, in reality, they are mostly caused by hot weather or some farmers who burn their crops due to financial reasons.

“We are aware that this behaviour is a failed attempt to escape internal crises, especially the upcoming elections and the government formation, and export them at the expense of the Palestinian people, their freedom and life” he added.

Read: Hamas calls on PA to stop security coordination with Israel

Naim stressed that the Palestinian faction’s decision is to abide by the terms of the recent truce understandings “as long as the [Israeli] occupation is committed to them,” adding that Hamas has no intention to escalate tensions.

“Therefore, we hold the [Israeli] occupation fully responsible for escalation and aggression on some areas in Gaza, and we call on it to retreat from its clumsy decisions, which will only increase the complexity and tension of the situation,” he said.

On Thursday, the Israeli warplanes attacked the Gaza Strip for the first time in weeks, one day before the Palestinians resumed protests demanding the lifting of the siege imposed on the Gaza Strip.

Israel has also imposed a naval blockade on the Gaza Strip and prevented the Palestinian fishermen from working until further notice.