West Bank – Palestinian Authority Warns Hamas: Don’t Carry Out Terror Attacks On Palestinian Security Forces

West Bank – The Palestinian Authority on Sunday warned Hamas against launching terrorist attacks against members of the PA security forces in the West Bank.

The warning came in response to threats made by Hamas leaders over the past few days.

The threats came in response to the arrest of more than 120 Hamas men by various branches of the PA security forces in the West Bank in the past four days.

The PA has justified the crackdown on Hamas supporters by accusing the Islamist movement of working to undermine stability and stir chaos. The clampdown is the biggest against Hamas in recent years.

Gen. Adnan Dmeiri, spokesman for the PA security forces in the West Bank, warned that Hamas would face the “unimaginable” if it dared to carry out terrorist attacks against Palestinian security personnel.

“I hope that Hamas won’t test our patience, capabilities and love for our people,” Dmeiri said, referring to threats by some Hamas officials.

Dmeiri said there was no difference between the rhetoric used by the Islamic State terror group and Hamas. He accused Hamas leaders of incitement against PA President Mahmoud Abbas and the PA security forces.

“We won’t allow Hamas or any other group to drag Palestine toward bloodshed,” Dmeiri vowed. “We will use all legal means to stop Hamas from plunging the West Bank into anarchy and bloodshed.”

He also rejected charges that the arrests were politically motivated, insisting that the Hamas men were being held for “security reasons.” He claimed that some of the Hamas detainees have confessed that they had been planning to launch armed attacks against members of the PA security forces in the West Bank.

Last weekend, senior Hamas official Ismail al-Ashqar threatened that his supporters would carry out attacks against the PA security forces in response to the latest massive security crackdown. The Hamas official accused the PA security forces of conducting security coordination with Israel and “hindering resistance against occupation.”

Human rights activists in the West Bank reported that the PA security forces have arrested 148 Hamas supporters in the past few days. They said that most of the arrests took place Thursday night and Friday morning.

Hassan Yousef, a prominent Hamas representative who was recently released from Israeli prison, condemned the ongoing PA crackdown on his men in the West Bank. He said that the arrests show that the PA security forces were being used as “tools to serve Israeli security.” Yousef said that the PA security forces were operating on instructions from Israel following the recent spate of terror attacks against Israelis.

The Hamas official also dismissed claims that his movement had been planning to cause chaos in the West Bank.