Hamas Spokesman Denies Belarus Bomb Threat

MENA: Misbar discovered that on May 23, 2021, a Ryanair commercial plane flying over Belarus, en route from Greece to Lithuania, was forced to land in Belarus due to a proposed bomb threat from Hamas. According to Reuters.com, the Belarus foreign ministry's spokesman said Belarus had acted in line with international regulations. A senior transportation official read the text of the bomb threat: “We, the soldiers of Hamas, demand that Israel cease-fire in the Gaza Strip. We demand that the European Union withdraw its support for Israel in this war. There is a bomb on that plane. If you do not comply with our demands, the bomb will explode over Vilnius on 23 May," he said.

However, the U.S. and the European Union (EU) have rejected the claim from the Belarus authorities regarding Hamas and instead have called the incident state-sponsored piracy. In response to the accusation, Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum denied his group had any knowledge or connection. "We don’t resort to these methods, which could be the doing of some suspicious parties that aim to demonize Hamas and foil the state of world sympathy with our Palestinian people and their legitimate resistance," the Hamas spokesman said in Reuters.com. 

Instead of a bomb threat, it is now believed that the plane was forced out of the air for the Belarus government to detain Roman Protasevich, a longtime opposition activist and journalist who left Belarus in 2019. According to the Wall Street Journal, after the plane was forced to land in Belarus, Protasevich and his girlfriend were removed from the plane, detained, and not on board when the plane was finally allowed to return to its original flight plan. On May 24, Protasevich was seen on a hostage-style video claiming he was being treated within the law. 

In response to the actions of Belarus, western governments and the EU are cutting off aviation links. The EU has banned airplanes from Belarus from entering their airspace and airports, with more sanctions expected. According to Belgian Prime Minister Alexander de Croo, “The reaction should be swift and be severe.”