The refugee camps of Balata and Jenin have been withstanding Zionist aggressions and occupation army attempts to storm them, to arrest Mujahideen and to repress our people for the past eleven days. Our people in both camps have recorded an epic of pride that did not only repel the ferocious attacks but also registered great unity in confronting the enemy and displayed unity of lines in face of occupation. Such a grand situation has affirmed anew that Jihad and resistance lead to unity while settlement and humiliation before the enemy lead to disintegration and disunity. Despite this heroism the Mujahideen and strugglers were forced to withdraw from the heroic and proud Balata refugee camp affirming God willing that they were returning. They did not evacuate the camp out of fear of fighting the enemy or to save their lives but rather because they ran out of ammunition. The enemy then stormed the camp mobilizing more than 60 tanks for the mission. It stormed houses, damaged all contents, and harassed inhabitants. The enemy troops went from one house to another through destroying walls in an all-out destruction campaign amidst total siege, electricity and water cut off in addition to blocking the entry of food supplies. As for the patient camp in Jenin, the Mujahideen and strugglers are still employing their limited arms in defeating the occupation army at the entrance of the camp, destroying a tank, burning another and retaliating to the occupation soldiers with their bullets and blood. Thus they affirm that the commandos have prepared themselves for war.

We, in the Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, in face of recent developments on the land of Palestine in general and in the Balata and Jenin refugee camps in particular would like to affirm the following:

1-We urge the Palestinian Authority to shoulder its role towards our people and to provide arms to Mujahideen instead of prosecuting them by certain apparatuses. We also call on them to end the farce of security meetings. Our people are wondering about what was taking place in those meetings and about feasibility of its continuation in the light of the continued repression against our people.

2-We invite the PA to benefit from the field unity lessons that boosted our people’s resoluteness in face of aggression for the sake of building national unity on the basis of resistance, steadfastness and confrontation against occupation.

3-We denounce Arab and Islamic silence towards the terrorism and repression against our people and wonder what is our Ummah waiting for? Will the response to such aggression remain silence as if the Ummah is not concerned with the matter? Our Arab and Islamic governments are called upon to immediately and urgently act to stop what was taking place through backing resistance and the Palestinian people’s steadfastness along with that people’s stand that sticks to national rights and rejects all forms of settlements with that usurping enemy.

4-We call on the Arab and Islamic parties and movements in addition to the Ummah’s scholars, intellectuals and politicians to shoulder their responsibilities towards what was going on in Palestine before, God forbid, the Sabra and Chatilla massacres are repeated on the land of Palestine.

5-The international community that continues to yell about peace and about halting the bloodletting is facing a test today over its credibility and over truthfulness of its principles and values. The community’s behavior reveals that its values were not real but rather hollow slogans aimed at protecting the occupation’s aggression on our people. It is high time that this community restored its awareness and checked the occupation’s crimes against our people.

6-We affirm that our Mujahideen in the Qassam Brigades along with all armed resistance brigades would continue to live up to the pledge and the enemy would soon suffer and its terrorism would never influence our determination Insha’allah.



“And Allah hath full power and control over His affairs; but most among mankind know it not.”

And it is a Jihad until either victory of martyrdom

The Islamic Resistance Movement
Hamas – Palestine
Friday 17th Thul Hijja 1422H
1st March 2002AD