Head of Hamas’ National Relations Abroad Ali Baraka denied on Monday claims that the Al-Aqsa Storm operation against Israel was planned by officials that included “resistance axis” members in Beirut.
In southern Lebanon, Palestinians rallied at the border with Israel in support of the operation and to condemn the Israeli assault on Gaza. Some demonstrators threw rocks towards Israel, while others attempted to infiltrate the border, leading to clashes.
Baraka told Asharq Al-Awsat: “It would be difficult to rein in the people given Israel’s vicious retaliation.”
He did not rule out the possibility of operations being launched from Lebanon.
Israel’s military said early Tuesday that a deputy Israeli commander was killed in clashes on the northern border with Lebanon.
The military identified the deputy commander as Alim Abdallah, but did not specify the exact circumstances of his death.
Palestinian militants from the Islamic Jihad group slipped from Lebanon into Israel, prompting Israeli shelling into southern Lebanon. Lebanon’s Hezbollah party said five of its members were killed, and it retaliated with a volley of rockets and mortars at two Israeli army bases across the border.
Baraka made his remarks prior to these developments.
“We had hoped that all fronts would have been opened against the enemy. We could have reclaimed all of our occupied territories,” he added.
Hamas was the sole party that planned the Al-Aqsa Storm surprise operation against Israel, he stressed, denying that Beirut, Damascus or Tehran were involved.
“We are a resistance defending our land and we take our decisions independently,” Baraka stated.
Leading Fatah member in Lebanon Mounir al-Maqdah told Asharq Al-Awsat that the Palestinian refugee camps are on alert.
The Palestinian people in the Palestinian territories or abroad are one, he declared.
“Every Palestinian, no matter where they are, must be prepared to come to the aid of our people in Gaza to defeat the occupation,” he added.
“We will not remain silent over the massacres that are taking place in Gaza. Should the assault continue, we are prepared to wage a major battle that would completely end the occupation,” he warned.
On whether he supports attacks on Israel from southern Lebanon, he replied: “We are waiting to see how things develop. Our people are fighting on their land and we are prepared to stand by their side and fight with them.”
Lebanon is hosting some 230,000 Palestinian refugees, according to statistics from the Central Administration of Statistics and the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics. They are spread throughout 12 refugee camps in Lebanon.
In an outdated survey conducted 11 years ago, UNRWA says some 483,000 Palestinians are living in Lebanon.
