Hamas claims responsibility for explosion in Tel Aviv that killed Palestinian Arab terrorist, threatens to resume using suicide bombings if war in Gaza continues.
The Hamas terrorist organization threatened Monday to resume its use of suicide bombing attacks against Israeli targets if the war in Gaza continues.
On Monday, the official Telegram channel of Hamas’ military wing – the Ezzedeen Al-Qassam Brigades – claimed responsibility for an explosion in Tel Aviv Sunday night which killed one and wounded another.
Israel’s Shin Bet internal security agency confirmed earlier on Monday that the incident was almost certainly a botched Palestinian terrorist attack, noting that the man killed in the explosion was a Palestinian Arab.
In the group’s statement Monday afternoon, Hamas dubbed the incident a “martyrdom operation,” and vowed that such operations would be brought back “to the forefront” should the war in Gaza continue.
“The Al-Qassam Brigades, in cooperation with the Al-Quds Brigades, announce the implementation of the martyrdom operation that took place yesterday evening, Sunday, in the city of Tel Aviv.”
“The Brigades confirms that martyrdom operations inside the occupied territories will return to the forefront as long as the occupation’s massacres and displacement of civilians continue and the policy of assassinations continues.”
Palestinian Arab terrorist organizations have long described suicide bombings, first used against Israeli targets in 1989, as “martyrdom operations.”
Used by both Hamas and Islamic Jihad during the 1990s, the number of suicide bombings soared during the Second Intifada of the early 2000s, only to decline in the late 2000s, with the near cessation of their use in the 2010s.
Hamas issued the warning after the group rejected the proposed hostage and ceasefire deal currently on the table, accusing Israel of changing its demands and the U.S. of bowing to Israeli pressure.
Image - Scene of a Palestinian suicide bombing at the Sbarro restaurant in Jerusalem August 9, 2001. (Flash90)