Fatah was “the shield and nursemaid of resistance” during the Fatah-Hamas riot and rocket war against Israel, says Fatah
Headline: “Al-Shuyoukhi: Fatah was the shield of the resistance during the occupation’s aggression against the Gaza Strip”
“Secretary-General of the Palestinian Popular Committees and Fatah Movement leadership member Azmi Al-Shuyoukhi said: ‘The Fatah Movement was the shield of the resistance during the occupation’s aggression against the Gaza Strip in three wars, and it consolidated with the resistance against the latest Israeli aggression that is still continuing and is leaving behind it an unprecedented destruction of the beloved Gaza Strip and hundreds of Martyrs, wounded, and prisoners (refers to Israeli defensive operation in response to Hamas rocket barrages; see note below -Ed.).’ …
He noted that Fatah with all its people is consistent with and completes the resistance and is a shield and nursemaid for the resistance every time, and during the latest aggression of 2021 that is still continuing, members of Fatah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the Democratic Front [for the Liberation of Palestine] (DFLP), and the Popular Front [for the Liberation of Palestine] (PFLP) unified in showing the most spectacular national solidarity and unity on the ground, in comprehensive and full harmony in the Gaza Strip, in our capital Jerusalem, in the West Bank, in the occupied Interior (i.e., Palestinian term for Israel), and in the diaspora states.
He said: ‘The Palestinian [PA] Security Forces and Fatah sacrificed a large number of Martyrs, wounded, and prisoners for the sake of Jerusalem, the resistance, and our people in the Gaza Strip during the barbaric Israeli military aggression.’ …
Al-Shuyoukhi called to strengthen the union of our people’s masses around the resistance by establishing a national unity government in which all shades of the Palestinian political rainbow will participate, and he called on Hamas and Islamic Jihad to join the PLO in order to strengthen it and give it and its institutions life in order to deal with all the dangers, the challenges, and the barbaric and bloody Israeli aggression.”
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.