Hamas Vows to Attack More Settlers

04/09/2010 A Hamas spokesman told Arab language newspaper Al-Hayat that the group intends to continue its attacks on settlers because they are "legitimate targets" on Saturday.

Azat al-Ghashek reportedly said that "Zionist settlers" made up an entire army living on occupied land, with a large cache of weapons at their disposal.

"Hurting Zionist settlers is a natural thing… they now constitute an actual army, in the full sense of the word. They have more than a half a million automatic weapons, in addition to the basic protection granted them by the occupation army," al-Ghashek said.

The spokesman made the comments in an interview with the newspaper, adding that the peace talks launched on Thursday in Washington were nothing but a "media circus."

On Thursday, Reuters reported that thirteen Gaza resistance groups have joined forces to launch a wave of attacks against Israel.

When asked if the renewed attacks would include suicide bombings, the Hamas spokesman reportedly answered: "All options are open."

Hamas's representative in Lebanon, Osama Hamdan, was also interviewed by the paper. He did not disguise his hope that the attack would hinder the talks, and condemned Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad for speaking out against it.

"Fayyad was the first to condemn the move. The security forces under him in the West Bank are hurting the resistance, and their job is to maintain Israel's security… They serve the enemy," he said.

Also on Thursday, Hamas condemned the launch of direct talks, saying its goal is to "liquidate" the Palestinian cause, and accusing Abbas of allowing Israel to build settlements in the West Bank and denying refugees' "right of return."

Earlier this week, Hamas claimed responsibility for two attacks on Israelis: one, which killed four, and another that injured two. Both were shootings that took place in the occupied West Bank.

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