Palestinian factions threaten to attack Israel on Jerusalem Day
A renewed attack would be more powerful, on a wider scale, and would not be limited to the Gaza front, according to Arab media
Ahead of the Jerusalem Day flag march set for Thursday, Arab media on Monday reported that Palestinian armed factions threatened Israel of a renewed “powerful campaign,” days after a ceasefire ended the escalation between the Israeli military and Gaza’s Islamic Jihad terror group.
According to the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar, the Palestinian factions informed Egyptian mediators – who brokered the truce between Israel and the Islamic Jihad after five days of fighting – that they had the ability to start a new campaign against the Jewish state to “prevent the change of reality” at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.
On Sunday, a senior IDF officer spoke with i24NEWS about the possibility of an attack from Gaza's ruling terror faction Hamas on Jerusalem Day: "The more you talk about it, the greater the [likelihood of the] event becomes, without limiting the capacity of our enemies."
The Gaza-based terror groups have issued similar warnings in the past to Israel about the flag parade. Opponents see the march’s route through the Old City's Muslim Quarter as a provocation, while supporters see it as an expression of Israel's sovereignty over a united Jerusalem.
Possibly exacerbating tensions over the Jerusalem Day parade is the prospect of Israel's National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir participating in the nationalist march.
Sources told Al-Akhbar that the Palestinian factions further warned that a campaign over Jerusalem would be more powerful, on a wider scale, use more firepower, and would not be limited to the Gaza front. They also emphasized their alertness regarding any development on the Temple Mount, and clarified that the issue of the flag parade in Jerusalem was not addressed in the recent ceasefire agreement.