16 August 2000

In the name of Allah the most Gracious the most Merciful    

Press release Commenting on the assassination of the (Mukhtar) mayor of Sarda village Mahmoud Abdullah at the hands of the Zionist occupation soldiers

Commenting on the assassination of the (Mukhtar) mayor of Sarda village Mahmoud Abdullah at the hands of the Zionist occupation soldiers, a responsible source in the Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, said:

A group of Zionist undercover soldiers, specialized in pursuing and assassinating Palestinian Muhajideen, has murdered the mayor of Sarda village in the Ramallah district. The occupation authority claimed that the unit was looking for one of the Hamas Movement’s Mujahideen and started shooting killing the mayor of that village Mahmoud Abdullah, 73, who was standing on the rooftop of his house.

The occupation authority alleged that the martyr had fired at the soldiers. It was not requited with murdering him but also arrested his sons, one of whom is a correspondent for the French news agency (AFP) who was charged of belonging to Hizbullah. They were later released in a bid to justify and cover up the crime.

The fact is that the martyr’s house was the target of repeated stealing attempts last year. At dawn today, he heard sounds outside his house so he went to the roof to discover the cause of such noise and immediately the undercover soldiers shot him.

The occupation authority issued perplexed statements to explain what happened; it accused the martyr of firing first and later said that the soldiers thought he was a Hamas cadre, as if the Hamas cadres’ blood was permanently wasted. It then claimed that one of his sons was a member in Hizbullah but all those attempts could not conceal the abhorred crime.

The occupation authority’s crime reflected the occupation’s real ugly face and its aggressive and repressive practices against our unarmed people. It also exposed reality of that criminal enemy with which the Palestinian Authority was trying to make peace at the expense of our people’s blood and our rights and sanctities.

It is regrettable that the Zionist crime had coincided with the official declaration of the resumption of negotiations between the PA and the arrogant Zionist enemy.

We demand the PA to halt is absurd negotiations with the occupation authority and to respect the will of our Palestinian people, who reject such negotiations and insist on their rights, Quds and holy shrines. We urge the PA to respect the blood of our people, including that of martyr Mahmoud Abdullah that would not be the last to be shed, and to halt all forms of security coordination with the enemy aimed at pursuing and liquidating the Mujahideen.

The Islamic Resistance Movement
(Hamas – Palestine)
Information office
Wednesday 16 August 2000