Hamas Spokesman Fawzi Barhum has blamed the Israeli government as being fully responsible for the violence that is happening in the Arab sector, which is also reflected in homicides.
Barhum said in a statement that the crimes of murder and violence in the "occupied Palestinian interior" (the Arab sector in Israel) carry the characteristics of "the Israeli occupation and its security arms that always seek to destroy the social fabric and damage the image of our (Palestinian) people." He said the purpose of these crimes is to engage the Arabs in Israel in a vicious cycle of violence and murder, and thereby cause them to abandon the basic problems of protecting their rights and liberation from the occupation. Barhum further noted that the phenomenon of violence and murders in the Arab sector in Israel contradicts the values of the "Palestinian" people and its cultural heritage.