Hamas Agrees No Terror, Rocket Attacks Under Unity Deal

Fatah Also Agrees to Avoid 'Unilateral Actions'

Jason Ditz 

Posted onOctober 15, 2017CategoriesNewsTagsGaza, Palestine

While Israeli officials have panned the Palestinian unity deal on the grounds that Hamas are “terrorists,” agreements on the sideline of the deal reportedly included Hamas pledging not to carry out any terror attacks, or fire any rockets at Israel.

The terms of this sideline deal were that both Hamas and Fatah agreed to try to keep things as stable as possible, and avoid any unilateral actions that could rile up Israel while trying to solidify the unity government and prepare for elections.

Making this part of the agreement public, while aimed at keeping Israel placated, is risky. 

That’s because Hamas’ rivals in the Gaza Strip might attempt to frame them in future rocket attacks in an attempt to undermine the unity deal.

Which is entirely possible. Smaller Islamist factions in Gaza have often used rocket attacks as a way to try to provoke Israeli attacks against Hamas targets, with considerable success. Even when the Israeli military concedes Hamas is trying its best to stop rocket fire, Israel’s far-right government often demands a public show of carrying out revenge strikes.

http://news.antiwar.com/2017/10/15/hamas-agrees-no-terror-rocket-attacks-under-unity-deal/