Alwaght- Hamas resistance movement hailed the retaliatory shooting operation in the occupied West Bank town of Huwara, describing it as a heroic response to repeated desecration of the al-Aqsa Mosque compound by extremist settlers.
Mohammad Hamadeh, spokesman for the Hamas branch in occupied al-Quds, said on Wednesday that the operation sent a clear message to the occupying Tel Aviv regime and Zionist settlers, who intended to invade al-Quds and the holy al-Aqsa Mosque during the Rosh HaShanah holidays for the Jewish New Year.
“The struggle against the Israeli occupation will continue until full restoration of Palestinians’ rights,” he added.
He praised the brave Palestinian nation who stood up against Israeli forces, and resistance fighters who prove their might every day to create deterrence against Israel and dispel its invincibility myth.
Hamadeh also said that the operation was a response to the follies of far-right Israeli minister Itamar Ben-Gvir against Palestinian prisoners.
Earlier this month, Ben-Gvir declared that Palestinian prisoners would now be permitted family visits only once every two months instead of once a month.
He also revoked a policy allowing for the early release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli prisons.
Earlier this year, he attempted to enforce stricter regulations on the duration of showers and ordered the elimination of ovens in prisons.
The Hamas spokesman called on Palestinians living throughout the West Bank and al-Quds to intensify their retaliatory operations against Zionist occupiers and target illegal settlements.
The resistance fighters and the entire Palestinian nation must turn the occupiers’ lives into utter hell in order to finally force them out of the occupied territories, and stop their crimes against al-Aqsa Mosque and Palestinian prisoners, he said.
The remarks came after two Israeli men were wounded in a retaliatory shooting attack in the northern West Bank town of Huwara on Tuesday evening.
The Israeli Magen David Adom ambulance service said the pair, in their 30s, were in good condition, after suffering minor injuries by glass shards as a result of the gunfire toward the windshield of their car.
Israeli Army Radio cited a security source as saying the shooting was carried out by someone on foot, rather than a drive-by attack. It remained unclear how the assailant fled the scene.
Israeli forces launch raids on various cities of the West Bank on an almost daily basis under the pretext of detaining what it calls “wanted” Palestinians. The raids usually lead to violent confrontations with residents.
More than 200 Palestinians have been killed this year in the occupied Palestinian territories and Gaza. The majority of these fatalities have been recorded in the West Bank.
