GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — A Hamas source said the group might curtail its armed actions temporarily to avoid a crackdown that could stifle a nascent intifada. Hamas is pushing for the intifada in the West Bank and Jerusalem, which it believes could help its members there in light of the Palestinian Authority's security grip on them and the freezing of security coordination with Israel.
Hamas supports a popular intifada and direct individual confrontations, at this stage at least. The group, which believes armed action is a proper approach to resist the Israeli occupation under usual circumstances, thinks such action on its part at this point might weaken the intifada, a well-informed Hamas source told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity.
“We are looking at everything we have in common with all the factions in order to achieve a real breakthrough for the intifada. We believe that the continuity of the intifada depends on media, moral and financial support. Armed action in the early stages [of the intifada] may increase the pressure on Abu Mazen [President Mahmoud Abbas] to put an end to it,” the source said.
“The Palestinian-Israeli security coordination is under the supervision of US security leaders, who managed to thwart attempts to organize military resistance cells in the West Bank. So the best solution at this stage is to continue with individual acts of resistance in the West Bank and Jerusalem,” he added.
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