Hamas leader warns of new war with Israel involving entire region

The exiled Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal has warned that if a new war broke out with Israel it would not be limited to the Gaza Strip but involve the wider Middle East. In an interview with the Arab newspaper ‘al-Hayat’, which is based in London, he said Hamas was not interested in war and bloodshed, but if a war was waged against it, Hamas would stand strong.

Mashaal accused Israel of killing the Hamas operative Mahmoud Mabhouh in Dubai last month. He rejected reports that Hamas was blaming Arab states for the death and claimed that the Mossad was solely responsible for the assassination. Meshaal gave the interview in Moscow, where earlier this week he met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

Meanwhile, there were media reports on Friday that IDF troops had been warned to stay on high alert amid Hamas plans to abduct Israeli soldiers. The security service Shin Bet arrested a prominent Hamas activist in Gaza, who infiltrated Israel with the intention to abduct an Israeli soldier, murder him, and negotiate over the body.

This was not an isolated incident, an unnamed Israeli defense official told the ‘Haaretz’ newspaper: "The attempt along the Egyptian border to attack and abduct, which was foiled in December, was not a one-time procedure. The terrorist organization won't hesitate at any chance to grab another bargaining chip against Israel."