Hamas Praises West Bank Shooting Attack, Calls for Escalation

The Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas issued a statement praising a recent shooting attack near the settlement of Halmish, close to Ramallah, describing it as a "heroic" act. Hamas declared the attack a direct response to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's statements, his visit to the Western Wall, and what they termed provocative displays in tunnels beneath the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

The statement further asserted that the shooting was a legitimate reaction to ongoing incursions by settlers and Israeli leaders into the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and condemned these actions as desecration. Hamas also framed the attack as a decisive response to settler violence and escalating crimes against Palestinians in villages and communities across the West Bank, warning that settler "terror" would be met with further painful blows.

In its declaration, Hamas urged Palestinians in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and throughout the homeland to escalate resistance activities by all means. The group called for confrontation with the "occupation's brutality and its settlers," and to initiate a new phase of conflict aimed at expelling the occupation from Palestinian land and holy sites.