Israel encourages Palestinian violence and then murders in cold blood

“Political advisor to the President [Mahmoud Abbas], Nimer Hammad, yesterday accused the Israeli occupation authorities of attempting, by carrying out killing operations and provocations in the West Bank, to heat things up, to cause violence, and to push the Palestinian forces into responding. In statements published in yesterday’s edition of the Egyptian newspaper Al-Gomhuriya, advisor Hamad said that right now Israel’s isolation in the international arena is intensifying, and its acts of cold-blooded murder and the unceasing detentions which it carries out will not help it. He noted that it is now completely clear that the aim [of the killings and detentions] is to draw the Palestinian side into responses that will lead to a cycle of violence which Israel will use to evade international pressure and isolation.”