By Xinhua,
Ramallah : Israeli raids in the West Bank aim at embarrassing Hamas which is committed to an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, a Hamas lawmaker said Tuesday.
“The Israeli violations in West Bank contribute in building pressure on the factions and resistance movements to tear down the deal,” said Ayman Dharaghma, a Hamas legislator based in the West Bank.
The ceasefire took effect only in the Hams-controlled Gaza on June 19 and the West Bank remained out of the deal. Israel launched a crackdown against Hamas charities in the West Bank and continued its raids there.
Dharaghma added that the Israeli military escalation in the West Bank, which followed Gaza ceasefire, was aimed at “widening the political split between the two Palestinian territories by making one calm and the second tense.”
Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip in June 2007 after routing forces loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas. Since then, Israel imposed a blockade and increased its attacks in the Hamas-run territory.
The ceasefire stopped the cross-border violence in Gaza and Israel started to gradually ease the siege.