[Jpost] Gaza's dominant Islamist Hamas movement denied that it was under pressure from neighboring Egypt to scale back the six-week-old demonstrations, and said they would continue.
"Absolutely denied. Wait, is this mike on? We will fight ON!"
Palestinian protests on the Gaza-Israel border have dropped off over the past two days, amid reports that Egyptian officials intervened to restore calm.
Gaza's dominant Islamist Hamas movement denied that it was under pressure from neighboring Egypt to scale back the six-week-old demonstrations, and said they would continue, although fewer Palestinians were now gathering in protest tents.
Gaza medics said two Palestinians were shot dead during Tuesday's demonstrations along the 51 km (32 mile) border. On Monday, 60 were killed in a far greater turnout on the day that the United States relocated its Israel embassy to Jerusalem.
The bloodiest day for Palestinians in years has created a diplomatic crisis. The Palestinian Authority, which says Washington has abandoned its role as neutral arbiter in the 70-year-old conflict, withdrew its envoy from Washington. Turkey and Israel expelled each other's ambassadors.
On Wednesday the Palestinian Foreign Ministry announced the recall of its envoys in Romania, Hungary, Austria and the Czech Republic because those countries participated in the reception for the U.S. delegation that inaugurated the embassy.
Wow! How will those countries cope?
Pushing back against foreign censure of its army's actions, Israel has - with Washington's backing - accused Hamas of using civilians as cover for attacks across the frontier fence and to distract from Gaza's internal problems. Hamas denies this.
| The Times of Israel adds: |
...became Prime Minister after the legislative elections of 2006 which Hamas won. President Mahmoud Abbas dismissed Haniyeh from office on 14 June 2007 at the height of the Fatah-Hamas festivities, but Haniyeh did not acknowledge the decree and continues as the PM of Gazoo while Abbas maintains a separate PM in the West Bank...’s trip Sunday to Egypt, Intelligence Minister Israel Katz said Haniyeh was told by the Egyptian intelligence minister that "Egypt knows and possesses evidence" Hamas funded the festivities and sent people to riot on the border.
| Whoops! Evidence is not good. It destroys implausible deniability. |
| That could be amusing, though not for Hamas. |