A Hamas military drill in the Gaza Strip in March 2018. Photo: Reuters/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa.

JNS.org – A senior Hamas source has warned that should a new conflict erupt between it and Israel, “a front will also be opened from southern Lebanon, and there will be an ‘intifada of 1948 Arabs [Arab Israeli citizens],” according to a report on Sunday by the London-based Rai Al-Youm newspaper.

The report, translated into Hebrew by Kan News, cited the Hamas member as warning that the situation in Gaza and “the rest of Israel” could ignite at any minute, despite understandings reached between Israel and Hamas via Egyptian mediation that have enabled a year of quiet since the May 2021 “Operation Guardian of the Walls.”

During recent Egyptian-mediated contacts, Hamas saw “evidence and documents that show that Israel is searching for those smuggling animals for sacrifice in the Temple Mount, and is trying to prevent them,” the report said, referring to recent Israel Police arrests of Jewish activists attempting to hold Passover sacrificial rituals illegally at the site in Jerusalem.

The Hamas member said the situation is “delicate mainly due to the background of Israeli forces entering Al-Aqsa [Mosque] this [Sunday] morning.”

According to a report released in October 2021 by the Alma Research and Education Center, Hamas is building rocket-launching terror cells in southern Lebanon.

The report said Hamas was likely behind five rockets launched at Israel from Lebanon between May and August 2021.

By adding to its power north of the border, Hamas gains more flexibility regarding its attack options, the report assessed.