The Fatah flag. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

JNS.org – Terrorist groups affiliated with Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah party claim that they have joined the rocket attacks against Israel from Gaza.

According to the Gatestone Institute, Fatah has several hundred militiamen in the Gaza Strip who belong to various armed terrorist groups. Some of these terrorists formerly belong to the PA’s security forces and still receive salaries from the PA—which is funded by Western governments, including the U.S.

“This blessed operation came as an answer to the enemy’s repeated crimes against our defenseless people,” the Fatah-affiliated Abdul Qader Husseini Battalions said in a statement on its Facebook page, the Times of Israel reported.

A photo of two members of the Husseini Battlions preparing to launch a rocket at Israel was also posted on Fatah’s Facebook page.

Another Fatah-affiliated group called Jaish al-Asifah (Army of the Storm) claims that it has fired 35 rockets at Israel.