Fatah official: We can longer negotiate or have any connection to our “enemy”, Israel, including transfers to Israeli hospitals
Official PA TV program Palestine This Morning, hosting Fatah Central Committee member and Fatah Commissioner for Arab and China Relations Abbas Zaki
Fatah Central Committee member and Fatah Commissioner for Arab and China Relations Abbas Zaki: “[Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu cannot even carry out what he proposes. First of all, he has been unable to establish a government until now, and if the story of Gaza had continued another day or two (refers to lethal confrontations on the border as part of the March of Return protests; see note below –Ed.), it would have been embarrassing, as he nevertheless wants to celebrate [Israeli] Independence Day and wants to celebrate [the Eurovision song contest] with the Europeans, and he has 100 problems – but he acts like he's a lion, [while] in wars he is [actually] an ostrich. Yesterday [May 5, 2019] he received a slap (refers to rocket barrage from terrorists in Gaza against Israeli civilian population centers; see note below –Ed.). [He should understand] that there are people against him who are not simple, in the West Bank and in Gaza. This is the great Palestinian people, the people of honor who is prepared to sacrifice all that is in its possession in order not to be humiliated and a slave in its own land among this scum. Due to this we have decided in the Fatah Movement that it is no longer possible [to conduct] negotiations or any connection with this enemy, and we have made our decisions according to which the Israeli hospitals, which have sucked our blood – now we will stop the activity with them, and we have turned to Egypt and Jordan and we can work with any hospital in the world, except for hospitals in Israel.”
"The March of Return" refers to massive violent riots in Gaza, in which thousands of Palestinians are rioting on the border with Israel and attempting to cut through the security fence, attacking with firebombs, flaming kites, and gunfire. The riots began on March 30, 2018, and were scheduled to last for 6 weeks until Palestinian "Nakba" Day on May 15. On the day the US embassy opened in Jerusalem, May 14, 2018, the Palestinian attacks escalated and 62 Palestinians were killed. A senior official of the terror organization Hamas, Salah Bardawil, stated that 50 of the 62 belonged to Hamas, while Islamic Jihad identified 3 others as belonging to it. The Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, an Israeli research institute, published research documenting that from the start of the riots on March 30 until May 15, 93 of the 112 Palestinians killed in the riots (approximately 83%) were members of terrorist organizations. Petitions against the IDF's use of live fire to combat the rioting submitted by organizations that advocate for Palestinian rights were rejected by Israel's Supreme Court on May 24, 2018. The court accepted the state's argument that the riots were "organized and directed" by Hamas, a terrorist organization, and thereby rejecting the claim that the riots were peaceful and civilian in nature. PMW reports were referred to in the Supreme Court's decision.
May 2019 Gaza rocket attacks – The Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorist organizations in Gaza launched a rocket barrage on Israeli civilian population centers on May 4, 2019, firing more than 700 rockets and murdering 4 Israelis in the course of two days. Israel responded by striking terror targets; 23 Gazans, many of them terrorists, were killed during the exchange of fire. On May 6 a ceasefire agreement was reached between Israel and Hamas.