Twitter war: Israeli army versus Hamas and its bus bomb pop song

The Israeli army and Hamas have launched a war of words over a Hamas pop video shared which encourages people to carry out attacks against Israeli buses. 

The Israeli army used Twitter to criticise the video on Wednesday, quoting lines that promote violence and urge Palestinians to step up attacks in Israel. 

Hamas' armed wing the al-Qassam Brigades defended the video, saying that force was the only thing Israel understands. 

The video was released on Sunday by the official Hamas broadcaster al-Aqsa TV, and was posted on Twitter and Facebook.

The Arabic song lyrics include: “To die as a martyr for al-Aqsa [mosque] gives the explosive device more force."

“The intifada is not an intifada if the bus roof doesn’t fly off.”

It also showed images of would-be attackers plotting to blow up buses in Israel with Jews on them. 

Tensions have been at fever pitch in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories since October last year when Palestinians began carrying out a number of attacks against Israelis in the West Bank and Israel.

The majority of the incidents have been stabbings although occasional shootings and car-rammings have also taken place. Since then, 166 Palestinians - including many attackers - have been killed. During the same period, 26 Israelis, an American, an Eritrean and a Sudanese have also been killed. 

Israeli media said that calling for bus bombings was reminiscent of the Second Intifada that raged from 2000 to 2005. Some 1,000 Israelis and 3,000 Palestinians died during the uprising, with civilians making up the bulk of the casualty count on both sides.