A senior member of Hamas\u2019 political bureau said during a TV interview on Wednesday that 50 people killed by Israeli soldiers during clashes in Gaza on Monday were members of Hamas.<\/p>\n
Salah al-Bardaweel was responding to suggestions from the interviewer that Hamas, the militant group that runs Gaza, was sending other people to die in the protests.
\n\u201cIn the last round [of demonstrations] 62 people were martyred; 50 of them are from Hamas and 12 from the people,\u201d al-Bardaweel replied, adding, \u201cI am telling you, these are official numbers.\u201d
\nIsraeli officials have seized on the comment as supporting their position that the demonstrations at the fence separating Gaza from Israel are directed by Hamas.
\nIsrael Defense Forces spokesman Jonathan Conricus tweeted a clip from the interview and wrote, \u201cSenior Hamas official sets the record straight on who was killed in last Hamas-orchestrated riots: \u201950 of the 62 martyrs were Hamas.\u2019 Take his word for it. This was not peaceful protest.\u201d
\nHamas spokesman Abdel Latif Quanau, in a phone conversation with CNN, would not confirm or deny the number of fatalities linked to Hamas.
\n\u201cI do not have specific numbers but all the factions have participated in the demonstrations, and they are all being targeted,\u201d Quanau said.
\nHe added, \u201cThe protests are peaceful and include all political and military factions. The Qassem Brigade, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and all the factions, are a part of the Palestinian people. When the people decided to move, all the people of all the different factions moved with them. And just as [the various factions] pursue military resistance, they also pursue peaceful resistance.\u201d
\nAhmed Abu Artema, widely credited as the person who brought the latest wave of demonstrations into being, cast doubt on Hamas\u2019 claims.
\n\u201cI personally doubt the number,\u201d he told CNN in a phone conversation. \u201cThis is rhetoric, I don\u2019t believe [al-Bardaweel] has confirmed the number; the reporter provoked him with his question.\u201d
\nBut, he added, \u201ceven if the number was right, the [political and military] factions are a part of our society.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A senior member of Hamas\u2019 political bureau said during a TV interview on Wednesday that 50 people killed by Israeli soldiers during clashes in Gaza on Monday were members of Hamas. Salah al-Bardaweel was responding to suggestions from the interviewer that Hamas, the militant group that runs Gaza, was sending other people to die in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":40,"featured_media":89505,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7863],"tags":[37855,11705,11704,37854],"class_list":["post-89504","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-english-section","tag-ahmed-abu-artema","tag-gaza","tag-hamas","tag-israeli-soldiers"],"yoast_head":"\n