The international leadership of the Iranian-backed Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist organization apparently feel safer in Beirut, where Iran’s Lebanese proxy Hezbollah holds power.
The move followed a warning from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in response to a sharp increase in terror attacks that Israel can reach terrorists wherever they are, including abroad.
Netanyahu Reminds Hamas Leader: ‘You Know Why You’re Hiding’
Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah convened a meeting Saturday in Lebanon with the heads of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad to coordinate their attacks against Israel.
Saleh al-Arouri – deputy political chief for Hamas – and Ziyad al-Nakhala, head of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist organization, were both present at the meeting.
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian was also in Lebanon this past week and met with Nasrallah as well.
On the agenda was the coordination and daily contact between their terrorist organizations, “especially in the Palestinian Authority territories and Lebanon.”
According to Israel’s Channel 13 News, the trio discussed “the latest political developments, especially with regard to the Palestinians . . . The three made a joint evaluation of the situation in Judea and Samaria regarding the increase in ‘resistance’ there as well as regarding the latest Israeli threats.”
Last week, Israel’s prime minister warned, “Hamas and the rest of Iran’s proxies know very well that we will fight with all means against their efforts to cause terror — in Judea and Samaria, Gaza and anywhere else. Anyone who tries to harm us – whoever finances, whoever organizes, whoever sends terrorists against Israel — will pay the full price.”
The warning came in response to threats by al-Arouri during an interview with the Hezbollah-linked Al Mayadeen news outlet. “If we reach the point of an all-out confrontation, Israel will face an unprecedented defeat in its history, and we are confident of that,” he said, claiming that Hamas is “preparing for an all-out war, and we are closely discussing the prospects of this war with all relevant parties.”
In response, Netanyahu commented: “I have heard the remarks of senior Hamas official al-Arouri from his hideout in Lebanon. He knows very well why he and his friends are in hideouts.”
