The Hamas commander in the West Bank was identified as Omar Abdul Razeq.
Abdul Razeq, appointed over the last year, has lived in the northern West
Bank village of Salfit near the Jewish city of Ariel, Middle East Newsline reported.
The sources said Razeq and other members of the West Bank leadership
have been unhappy over the Hamas offensive against the PA. They said the PA
has responded with the worst crackdown in years — the arrest of nearly 800
operatives in the West Bank.
As a result, Hamas communiques from the West Bank have differed from
those issued from the Gaza Strip and Syria. The West Bank communiques
claimed responsibility for attacks on Israeli civilians but denied that this
was connected to talks with the PA. On Aug. 31, Hamas claimed responsibility
for the killing of four Israelis south of Hebron.
The sources said Hamas in Damascus and the Gaza Strip was seeking to
escalate attacks in the West Bank. They said Hamas military chief Ahmed
Jabari and his deputy, Marwan Issa, were in contact with sleeper cells in
the West Bank as well directing an effort to recruit operatives.
"Most of the Hamas operational network was destroyed over the last three
years, so Jabari has been sending agents from the West Bank and Jordan to
infiltrate the West Bank," the source said.
At this point, the sources said, Jabari and Hamas political bureau chief
Khaled Masha'al have not ordered suicide bombings in Israel. They said the
Hamas leadership assessed that such attacks could spark another Israeli
invasion of the Gaza Strip.
Instead, Jabari has ordered Hamas operatives in the West Bank to resist
PA security operations. So far, the sources said, Hamas has not obeyed
Jabari's order and refrained from firing weapons
against PA forces.
"The mood within Hamas in the West Bank is to avoid a confrontation with
the PA," another source said. "But the money and orders are coming from the
outside."
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