Senior Fatah official Nabil Shaath claimed Friday that Israel's retaliatory strikes on the Gaza Strip after the deadly series of terror attacks that killed 8 Israelis on Thursday are aimed at thwarting the Palestinian Authority's statehood bid at the United Nations in September.
 
"The Israeli insanity will not hold back the Palestinian leadership from going to the UN; on the contrary it will give us a stronger motivation to continue our move,” the PA news agency WAFA quoted Shaath as saying following IAF airstrikes in Gaza.
 
Shaath claimed Israel wanted to find an excuse to carry out "collective punishment" against PA arabs, which he called a "war crime," aimed at frustrating the Palestinian Authority's efforts to avoid armed conflict.
 
Earlier on Thursday, Palestinian Authority chief negotiator Saeb Erekat warned Israel against "any irresponsible action" in Gaza in response to the terror attacks.
 
"Israel stands warned of any possible aggressive action or collective punishment measures against the Palestinian population in Gaza," Erekat said in a statement, adding the terror attacks should not be used by Israel as "a pretext for aggression."
 
The narcissistic paranioa exhibited by Fatah officials following Thursday's deadly attacks underscores their own awareness Hamas and other terror organizations in Gaza may force Israel to take rational steps that dramatically alter the region's strategic reality to secure its citizens and territory.