Shadowy Hamas commander warns Israel over Jerusalem
Associated PressGAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — The shadowy leader of the armed wing of the Islamic militant group Hamas has issued his first public statement in nearly seven years, warning Israel it will pay a “heavy price” if it evicts Palestinians from their homes in east Jerusalem. In it, Deif says he was sending a “clear, final warning” that if Israel goes through with the threatened eviction of dozens of Palestinians in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in east Jerusalem, then Hamas “will not stand by helplessly and the enemy will pay a heavy price.” Several Palestinian families in Sheikh Jarrah have been embroiled in a long-running legal battle with Israeli settler groups trying to acquire property in the neighborhood near Jerusalem’s famed Old City. Hamas appears to be seizing on the threatened Sheikh Jarrah evictions to bolster its image as an armed resistance movement in contrast to President Mahmoud Abbas’ Palestinian Authority, which engages in security coordination with Israel. Critics saw that as a pretext for calling off a vote in which Abbas’ Fatah party appeared likely to lose power and influence to Hamas, which denounced the postponement as a “coup.” Despite the harsh rhetoric, in Gaza, where Hamas seized power from Abbas’ forces in 2007, the militant group has largely observed an informal cease-fire with Israel in recent years in exchange for the easing of an Israeli-Egyptian blockade on the territory.