Hamas’s Jerusalem bureau chief called on Wednesday for suicide bombings and armed attacks inside Israel in response to the recently announced plans to build thousands of housing units in East Jerusalem and the West Bank.

Senior Hamas official Ahmed Abu Haliba, speaking to a Palestinian news source quoted by Israel’s Channel 10 news on Wednesday, said Israel’s announcements were the Jewish state’s attempt to “speed up the construction of the Temple” and that “our people need… a new Islamic intifada to strike at the face of the enemy.”

Abu Haliba called on “all Palestinian factions” to resume suicide attacks “deep inside the Zionist enemy” and said that “we must renew the resistance to occupation in any possible way, above all through armed resistance.”

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Abu Halima also called for demonstrations in the West Bank in response to the renewed building.

On Tuesday, former prime minister Ehud Olmert warned that the Palestinians were “on the verge” of launching a third intifada due to their “unbearable” situation.