Hamas Warns Israel against Waging War on Gaza Strip


TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Any Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip under the pretext of the alleged murder of three teenage settlers would open "the gates of hell" on Israel, Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, warned.

“(Prime Minister Binyamin) Netanyahu should know that his threats don’t scare Hamas,” Abu Zuhri said. “If he wages war on the Gaza Strip, the gates of hell will be opened.”

Israel has blamed the Palestinian movement Hamas for the alleged abduction of three Israelis aged between 16 and 19, who went missing on June 12.

Hamas has dismissed the Israeli allegations as "stupid" with Abu Zuhri accusing Israel of fabricating the kidnapping as an excuse to crack down the Islamist movement.

"The disappearance and murder of the three Israelis is only based on the Israeli narrative, and the occupation is trying to use this story to justify its extensive war against our people, against resistance and against Hamas," he told AFP.

The warning came shortly after Israel confirmed finding the bodies of the three students who disappeared while hitchhiking in the southern West Bank on June 12.

The bodies were found in a field near Halhul some 10 minutes from the roadside spot where they were last seen, media reports said.

Meantime, the Israeli Air Force bombed dozens of sites in the Gaza Strip hours after a search for three missing young Israelis led to discovery of their dead bodies.

The airstrikes on 34 targets were conducted on Tuesday morning. The tension has been reaching the boiling point amid two weeks of door-to-door searches and arrests in the Palestinian territories by the Israeli forces.