Gershon Baskin, an Israeli-American said to have contacts with Hamas, says it sent its 3,000 elite fighters to bid farewell to their families before the ground offensive because they expected to die for Allah and the land.
They especially sought the prize of kidnapped soldiers, “and I want to warn Israeli forces on the ground that this is their plan,” says Baskin, who some say was instrumental in the 2011 Shalit prisoner deal.
Gershon Baskin, September 2013 (photo credit: Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
He stresses that there can be no negotiating with Hamas for Israel, since Hamas is opposed to the fact of Israel’s existence. Israel needs a “political initiative” that restores Mahmoud Abbas to Gaza, he says.
“Whoever says Hamas wants a ceasefire today, doesn’t understand the Hamas mentality.”
Baskin says Hamas is “ready to fight to the last fighter, the last rocket.”
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