Palestinians disavow video threatening Americans in Gaza
Palestinian officials have widely denounced a Palestinian militant’s threat against US nationals in the Gaza Strip after the US government added Hamas leader Fathi Hammad to its terror list.
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — On Sept. 16, the US State Department added Hamas leader and former Interior Minister Fathi Hammad to its global terror list. The State Department said in a press release that Hammad engaged in terrorist activities including coordinating terrorist cells as interior minister in the Hamas government and establishing Al-Aqsa TV, which broadcasts children's programs urging them to become armed fighters in the future.
In response, a Palestinian gunman who identified himself as a leader in al-Nasser Salah al-Deen Brigades, the Popular Resistance Committees' military wing, posted a video online on the same day, threatening any American nationals who might enter the Gaza Strip. His statement was quickly denounced across the board.
The gunman, who did not give his name in the video, said, “We, as leaders of al-Nasser Salah al-Deen Brigades, condemn the American statements that side with the Zionist enemy against Fathi Hammad, the leader of the liberation movements in Palestine.”
He added, “We warn Americans against entering the Gaza Strip because they are no longer welcome following this decision, and we demand the American people pressure the US government to retract the decision so we do not have to expand the conflict outside of occupied Palestine.”
