The Islamic Jihad terrorist group has threatened to sabotage any peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA).

Ahmed al-Mudallal, a senior official in the organization, on Monday told the French magazine Le Figaro that the Islamic Jihad will destroy any agreement that would “legitimize the Zionist occupation of Palestine.”

“We are totally opposed to the negotiations, which can bring nothing good,” he said, adding, “As we have in the past fought the Oslo process, we will destroy any agreement that would legitimize the Zionist occupation of Palestine. We will not compromise because our purpose is the liberation of our land, our people and our holy places.”

The terrorist leader warned Israel that the group has strengthened itself in recent months.

“Our opponents must not be mistaken: over the past few months, we have developed new weapons whose effectiveness will surprise them. We are now able to reach anywhere in Israel,” Al-Mudallal told Le Figaro.

While the Islamic Jihad group has weakened in the PA-assigned areas of Judea and Samaria, it has continued to be active in Gaza and has carried out rocket attacks against Israelis.

Just several days ago, the group threatened to take its war to Israel, both through suicide bombings in major Israeli cities and by fomenting violent unrest in Judea and Samaria – against both Israeli and PA security forces.

Recently Israel killed an Islamic Jihad operative, Ahmad al-Zaaneen (who was also associated with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine) and his cousin in an air strike in northern Gaza.

Israel said Zaaneen was behind rocket attacks on the Jewish state and an “immediate” danger to Israeli civilians. 

In response, Islamic Jihad promised to continue targeting Jewish civilians, declaring “the blood of our martyrs will not have been shed in vain.” 

The Islamic Jihad is not the only group that has rejected talks with Israel. Even though PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas claims he represents all the Palestinian Arabs, he has no power whatsoever in Gaza, where Hamas violently took control in 2007 from Abbas’s Fatah.

Hamas has vowed that it would continue to “fight the Israeli occupation” and “advance national goals,” no matter what the outcome of negotiations with Israel might be. The group also made clear that it sees Abbas as illegitimate.