The Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas threatened Monday to resume terrorist activities in Israel in an escalation of the Intifada (uprising).
"The Intifada is the first step in the revolt. The second will be the resumption of violence in Israel," Hamas spokesman Ismail Abu Shanab said in an interview with the French daily La Croix published Monday.
Shanab said that the Netzarim, the Jewish colony in the Gaza Strip "is no longer a useful target as there are no more Israelis... We know how to hit the Israelis elsewhere. Our objective is to avoid direct conflict and find easy targets," the spokesman added.
"Resistance is the only means of convincing the Israelis to withdraw from the Palestinian territories."
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak "should understand that repression will not stop Palestinian violence. The only solution is that the Israelis withdraw from the occupied territories," he concluded.
On Sunday, a top Hamas leader said his group could follow the example of the Hizbollah movement, which spearheaded successful efforts to force Israeli troops out of Lebanon, as the current wave of violence against Israel continues.
"We could take Hizbollah as our example for the Palestinian struggle. Those who are negotiating will continue to do so, and those who use the armed struggle will continue to do so, because the two strategies are complementary," said Ismail Abu Shanab, a member of the Hamas leadership said in Gaza.
The current wave of violence has left over 90 people dead in the Palestinian territories, Jerusalem and Arab areas of northern Israel in the past 11 days.
Earlier Sunday another Hamas leader said the Palestinian Authority had freed from jail seven of its members, bringing to 21 the number of militants released in the past few days - PARIS (AFP)
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