BICOM

United Nations (UN) political affairs chief Jeffrey Feltman yesterday told the UN Security Council that he is “alarmed” over reports that Hamas is attempting to rearm six months after Operation Protective Edge.

Feltman said that Hamas has been test firing rockets and has attempted to smuggle in materials for potential use as weapons. He called these “dangerous developments.” Although not mentioned specifically by Feltman, Hamas has on several occasions recently publicly displayed its military strength. It held a large scale rally in Gaza City in December, in which around 2,000 fighters participated and advanced rockets were on show. There are also reports that Hamas has begun rebuilding attack tunnels which were used during Operation Protective Edge to target Israeli soldiers and civilians.

Feltman called the situation in Gaza “increasingly worrisome” and said that security concerns coupled with governance problems and the slow pace of reconstruction in Gaza had created “an increasingly toxic environment.” In particular, Feltman pointed the finger at unfulfilled pledges from the international community which had promised billions of pounds at a donor conference in Cairo four months ago. Donors, said Feltman, “have yet to fulfil the vast majority of their pledges” and “This is, quite frankly, unacceptable, and cannot continue if we hope to avoid another escalation in Gaza.” He also called on Israel to release tax revenues it collects on behalf of the Palestinian Authority (PA), which Israel has withheld for the last two months in response to the PA’s unilateral decision to join the International Criminal Court, with an eye towards prosecuting Israeli figures.

Meanwhile, a report by the Lebanese daily Al-Hayat suggests that Hamas is looking to establish military strongholds in Lebanon and Syria. Apparently, senior Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar called on authorities in both countries to permit Hamas operations in Palestinian refugee camps which exist there. Zahar is quoted saying Hamas “will conduct the resistance [also] from northern Palestine and take part with us in liberating it.”