UN Sec. Gen. ‘Shocked’ that Hamas Praised Terror Attack, Accuses Palestinians of ‘Incitement’
Jerusalem (TPS) – Ban Ki-moon, secretary general of the United Nations, condemned theterror attack in Tel Aviv that killed four Israelis on Wednesday, adding that he is “shocked that the leaders of Hamas have chosen to welcome this attack” and accusing Palestinians of “incitement that fuels” terrorism.
“The Secretary-General reiterates that there is no justification for terrorism nor for the glorification of those who commit such heinous acts,” said a statement issued by the spokesperson of the secretary general on Wednesday.
After two Palestinian cousins dressed in suits opened fire on a crowd of Israelis dining and shopping at the upscale central Tel Aviv Sarona Market complex on Wednesday, Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh took to Twitter to celebrate the attack and call the terrorists “heroes.” Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, issued a statement in English saying that “Hamas hailed the resistance operation” in Tel Aviv “in which four Zionist squatters were killed and others wounded.”
As news of the attack broke, spontaneous celebrations erupted in Palestinian communities across Judea and Samaria and the Gaza Strip, as Palestinians shot fireworks and handed out sweets to celebrate the terror attack, which quickly went wild on Arabic-language social media sites under the hashtags “Ramadan Operation” and “Tel Aviv Operation.” Dozens clapped and cheered at the Damascus Gate of Jerusalem’s Old City.
Shehab News Agency, a Palestinian news site thought to be affiliated with Hamas, even posted a video glorifying the murderers to its Facebook page – which boasts nearly 6 million likes – reenacting the attack (complete with dining at a restaurant and dressing up as ultra-Orthodox Jews, as some initially reported the terrorists had done). The video was removed from Facebook but remains on Shehab’s Twitter account:
The Palestinian Authority president’s office issued a statement on Thursday saying it “rejects violence against civilians regardless of its source” – though immediately following the attack President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah party took to its official Twitter account to say that “Israel is reaping the repercussions of violence against the Palestinian people” and describing the shooting as a “natural and automatic response” to Israel’s actions.
Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, however, attributed the attack not to Israeli “violence” but to Palestinian “incitement.”
“The Secretary-General is shocked that the leaders of Hamas have chosen to welcome this attack and some have chosen to celebrate it. He calls upon the Palestinian leadership to live up to their responsibility to stand firmly against violence and the incitement that fuels it,” the statement said.