Hamas Admits: 50 Killed on Gaza Border Were Terror Group Members

A Hamas official admitted that 50 of the 62 Palestinians killed during the riots on the Gaza border were members of the terror organization.

By: United with Israel Staff and JNS

A Hamas official admitted that 50 of the 62 Palestinians killed during the riots on the Gaza border were members of the Palestinian terrorist group.

“In the last rounds of confrontations, if 62 people were martyred, 50 of the martyrs were Hamas and 12 from the people [civilians]. How can Hamas reap the fruits if it pays such an expensive price?” Hamas official Salah Bardawil said in an interview with the Palestinian Baladna news outlet on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, the IDF and the Shin Bet (Israel’s Security Agency) announced that they had identified 24 individuals “with documented terror backgrounds” who were killed during the violent riots along the Gaza border.

Most of the killed terrorists were identified as Hamas operatives, and some were operatives of Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

The revelation that many of the protesters killed along the Gaza border were Hamas members confirms Israel’s contention that the Palestinian terrorist group used Monday’s US embassy opening in Jerusalem to score propaganda points by misrepresenting well-orchestrated violence as spontaneous and “peaceful resistance.”

Commenting on the revelation, Israeli Foreign Ministry Spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon mocked nations who observed a minute of silence at the United Nations in honor of the Palestinian dead.

“So, it appears that the UN Security Council members observed this week a ‘solemn’ minute of silence for 50 proven Hamas terrorists,” he tweeted.

“That’s what happens when the irresistible urge to attack Israel takes over reason and decency. Will they apologize? Keep dreaming,” he added.

Hamas Corroborates Israel’s Account

“This proves what so many have tried to ignore: Hamas is behind these riots, and the branding of the riots as ‘peaceful protests’ could not be further from the truth,” IDF spokesperson Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus stated.

A senior Hamas leader led credence to this statement when he said that Palestinian riots on the border were backed by the Islamist group’s fighters and weapons.

In an interview with Al Jazeera on Sunday, Hamas co-founder Mahmoud al-Zahar called the idea that the terrorist group was employing “peaceful resistance” against Israel “a clear terminological deception.”

“When you have weapons that are being wielded by men who were able to prevent the strongest army in the region from entering the Gaza Strip for 51 days, and were able to capture or kill soldiers of that army — is this really ‘peaceful resistance’?” asked al-Zahhar.

“When we talk about ‘peaceful resistance,’ we are deceiving the public,” he said. “This is peaceful resistance bolstered by a military force and by security agencies, and enjoying tremendous popular support.”