Fatah joins Hezbollah event to support violent Arab riots – “Jerusalem’s intifada”
Headline: “Fatah participated in a solidarity rally in the village of Tafahta as a sign of support for our people and its intifada at the call of Hezbollah”
“Under the slogan ‘Southern Lebanon Supports Palestine – Oath and Resistance,’ the Hezbollah – Al-Zahrani Region organized a rally of solidarity with our Palestinian people and its brave intifada this afternoon, Thursday, May 20, 2021, in front of the Monument of Head of the Resistance Martyrs Abbas Al-Musawi at the village of Tafahta.
Participating in the rally were the leadership of the Fatah Movement’s Ammar ibn Yasser branch and member of the Loyalty to the Resistance faction Lebanese Parliament Member Hassan Izz Al-Din…
Parliament Member Hassan Izz Al-Din gave a speech on behalf of Hezbollah, in which he emphasized the Lebanese-Palestinian cohesion and the unity of the resistance against the Israeli enemy. He praised the Palestinian position that is resisting and united in all the occupied Palestinian territories in the Galilee (i.e., in northern Israel), the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and the Arab cities in the 1948 territories (i.e., Israel), in coordination between the factions as part of the joint military war room that organized the activity of the resistance brigades in the Gaza Strip to support Jerusalem’s intifada (refers to violent Arab riots and Hamas rocket barrages; see note below -Ed.).”
Fatah/Hamas Riot and Rocket War 2021 – On April 30, 2021, facing certain electoral defeat, PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas cancelled the first PA elections scheduled in 15 years. Hamas, which expected to win the elections, denounced it as a “coup.” In need of a conflict to divert public discontent, Abbas artificially generated a crisis over Jerusalem. His Fatah party called for "raising the level of confrontation,” and Abbas' spokesman told Palestinians "the battle of all battles is here.” Jerusalem Arabs responded by attacking Jews with rocks and Molotov cocktails. Hamas, Abbas' political rival, could not allow Abbas to lead the battle, so on May 10, 2021, Hamas launched rocket barrages targeting Israeli population centers including Jerusalem. Over the next 11 days, Hamas and Islamic Jihad fired over 4,300 rockets into southern and central Israel from the Gaza Strip, killing 9 Israelis and 3 foreign nationals, and wounding hundreds. In response, Israel launched Operation Guardian of the Walls to target Hamas terror leaders and terror infrastructure in the Gaza Strip. Already in mid-April, a planned eviction of some Palestinian families illegally living in Jewish-owned buildings in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of Jerusalem had led to clashes between Palestinian residents and Israeli police. This dispute provided Palestinians with a pretext for violent rioting. Adding to the crisis, Israeli Arabs started rioting throughout Israel, especially in cities with a mixed Jewish and Arab population. Two Jews were murdered and many were wounded. According to Walla, an independent Israeli news site, 10 synagogues were wholly or partly burned down; fires were set in 112 Jewish homes and 1 Arab home mistaken for a Jewish home; 386 Jewish homes were plundered and 673 were damaged; 849 cars were set ablaze; and there were 5,018 rock-throwing attacks. In response, Jews started attacking Arabs and their properties as well, but on a much smaller scale. No mosques were burned; 13 Arab homes were damaged; 13 Arab-owned cars were burned; and there were 41 rock-throwing attacks by Jews. [Walla, May 16, 2021] The fighting between Israel and Hamas ended with a ceasefire on May 21, 2021.