Gaza celebrates; Fayyad condemns terror attack - Israel News, Ynetnews
Gaza residents from the southern city of Rafah on Saturday poured out on the streets to celebrate the terror attack in West Bank settlement of Itamar, in which five family members were murdered in their sleep.
Residents handed out candy and sweets, one resident saying their joy "is a natural response to the harm settlers inflict on the Palestinian residents in the West Bank.
Meanwhile, Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said he "clearly and firmly denounces the terror attack, just as I have denounced crimes against Palestinians.
"We are against all types of violence," Fayyad stated during a tour in Bethlehem, "Our position has not changed. As we have said many times before, we categorically oppose violence and terror, regardless of the identity of the victims or the perpetrators."
IDF and security forces have been scouring the West Bank area since late Friday night, and have arrested 20 Palestinians from the villages of Awarta, Zababdeh, Sanur and Siliya. The IAF employed unmanned aerial vehicle in an effort to search for the suspects.
The Hamas movement accused the Palestinian Authority's security apparatus of arresting three of its activists nearby Qalqilya and Jenin.
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The report of five murdered Israelis is not enough to punish someone," stated Hamas Spokesperson Sami Abu Zuhri, adding, "However; we in the Hamas completely support the resistance against settlers who murder and use crime and terror against the Palestinian people under the auspices of the Israeli occupation soldiers."
A pamphlet distributed by the Islamic group stated that the PA also detained activists from Nablus, who were previously imprisoned and released.
According to unverified report, Fatah's military wing the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades assumed responsibility for the attack. A group spokesperson told a Palestinian news agency that a cell of militants infiltrated the settlement of Itamar and committed the attack.
The spokesperson stressed that the attack "came as a response to Israel's continues hostile policy toward the Palestinian people."
'Give murderers death sentences'
Defense Minister Ehud Barak held an assessment meeting at the Defense Ministry offices in Tel Aviv, following the attack. The meeting was attended by Chief if Staff Benny Gantz and other military and intelligence officials.
Barak called on the leaders of the Jewish settlements in the West Bank to act responsibly and urged the Palestinian leadership to denounce the attack.
Ron Nachman, mayor of adjacent city Ariel, arrived in Itamar Saturday noon and expressed anger over the government and defense minister's conduct.
"We need to find those behind the attack and give them the death penalty. I can't recall such a horrific terror attack," he said.
Nachman refused to comment on future "price tag" operations of radical rightist, saying: "I am not responsible for violent acts from either side."
There is no death penalty in Israel.
