PA daily editorial attacks Hamas official for genocidal anti-Semitic rhetoric and Hamas for retracting his statement
Editorial of the official PA daily
Headline: "Hammad's gifts to Israel!"
"After less than three days, senior Hamas official [Political Bureau member] Fathi Hammad has closed the factory for explosive belts, with which he threatened Jews everywhere (!!!) [parentheses in source] during a fiery populist speech that made him shake with fear more than anyone else (referring to statements made during a March of Return riot on July 12, 2019; see note below –Ed.). Hammad closed his factory with a press statement, in which he took back this threat…
We do not know what the [explosive] belt factory workers’ fate will be. A witty man responded and said that he will convert it into a seat factory, and the reality is that this is the only factory appropriate for Hammad and his [Hamas] Movement as long as they hold onto the seats of the coup's rule in the Gaza Strip…
Hammad's words were not improvised and random, but rather said with full intent. Their goal was to hasten the understandings of the calm, in which Hamas is interested so as to calm its worsening crises – but not by threatening extremism, but rather by hinting at Hamas' ability to rein in this extremism in the end. This was completely clear in Hamas' press statement, in which it closed the explosive belt factory entirely…
Through this statement, Hamas confirmed that Hammad's populist words were completely intended, and equally it also told Israel that it is capable of reining in the extremism, and faster than everyone expects!
If this is not the case, Fathi Hammad… must give an accounting to the people today, as he has given Israel – according to an article on the Hebrew Rotter website – valuable presents that Israel had not imagined in its rosiest dreams, as they are 'excellent ammunition for Israeli public relations and strengthening its narrative in the area of public diplomacy.'
And what would happen if Israel of the extremist racist right-wing were to take Hamas' threats seriously? What scenario of Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip could be expected in response to these threats?
In any case, whether these are Hamas messages or Hammad's populist nonsense, an accounting to the people is still necessary. And the most important thing is that the need to put an end to the repulsive [Hamas-Fatah] rift is once again confirmed."
Hamas Political Bureau member Fathi Hammad gave a speech during a March of Return riot on the Gazan border with Israel on July 12, 2019, in which he clearly connected the March of Return riots to terror attacks being carried out against Israel, spoke explicitly of Hamas factories manufacturing explosive belts for attacks against Israel, and called for the murder of every Jew in the world, in contradiction of Hamas' revised 2017 charter stating that its enemy is Zionism, not the Jews. Hamas' original 1988 charter wrote that the Palestinian war was against Jews. It stated that “Hamas aspires to the realization of Allah's promise," and then quoted a Hadith that in the end of times Muslims will exterminate the Jews.