It's Not Just Hamas: Chairman Abbas' Ruling Fatah Party is Also Launching Rockets Into Israel

While Hamas is getting all the attention for firing rockets at Israel's civilian population, Fatah is also involved in the terrorist attacks against Israel. Fatah is the party run by Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, and receives funds from the United States, along with other Western countries

Two elements of Fatah announced that they had started firing rockets at the cities of Ashkelon and Sderot, both within the 1949 armistice lines, and a third Fatah group is claiming responsibility for firing 35 rockets into Israel since Sunday.

The Gatestone Institute reported One Fatah-controlled group, called Jaish al-Karamah [Army of Dignity], published a statement entitled, "Gone are the Days of Defeat; Victory is Close."The group even admitted that one of its "rocket units" had narrowly escaped an Israeli air strike in the northern Gaza Strip.

Another Fatah group, called "Brigades of Martyr Abdel Qader Husseini - Armed Wing of Fatah," also took credit for firing two rockets at Israeli towns and cities (caption was originally in Arabic, Bing translation shown below).



Jaish al-Asifah [Army of the Storm] another Fatah controlled terrorist group, distributed leaflets in which its members claimed responsibility for launching 35 rockets at Israel since Sunday night.

The Fatah militiamen in the Gaza Strip were also acting at the request of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, who called on all Palestinian groups in the Gaza Strip to close ranks in order to fight against the Israeli enemy.

Fatah is able to obscure its participation in the rocket attacks by claiming it has a political wing led by Chairman Abbas and a military wing containing the terrorist groups above. This is a false distinction akin to stating that the Marine Corps are the military wing of the United States, and unrelated to the government. Despite the false distinction it can be said that U.S tax dollars fund some of the rockets aimed at Israeli citizens from Gaza.