The terrorist organization Hamas explicitly calls for the destruction of Israel in its group covenant, which also says that “peace initiatives … are in contradiction to the principles of the Islamic Resistance Movement.”
“Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it,” The Covenant of Hamas preamble states, according to Yale Law School’s Lillian Goldman Law Library.
“[Peace] initiatives, and so-called peaceful solutions and international conferences are in contradiction to the principles of the Islamic Resistance Movement…Those conferences are no more than a means to appoint the infidels as arbitrators in the lands of Islam. There is no solution for the Palestinian problem except by Jihad. Initiatives, proposals and international conferences are but a waste of time, an exercise in futility,” the covenant states.
The Hamas Covenant goes on to say that Muslims must “fight Jews and kill them,” and that “Jihad becomes the individual duty of every Muslim. In the face of the Jews’ usurpation, it is compulsory that the banner of Jihad be raised.”
“The Day of Judgment will not come about until Moslems fight Jews and kill them. Then, the Jews will hide behind rocks and trees, and the rocks and trees will cry out: ‘O Moslem, there is a Jew hiding behind me, come and kill him,” Article 7 of the covenant says.
Beginning Monday last week, Hamas sent more than 1,000 rockets into Israel by Wednesday morning, prompting Israel to counter-strike. On Friday, Israeli tanks and other ground units were deployed along the nation’s border in an effort to prevent militant groups from crossing into the country.
According to the Israel Defense Forces, Israel’s target is the “Hamas ‘Metro’ tunnel system in Gaza.” The operation includes 160 aircraft, tanks, artillery and infantry units, which have been used to strike at least 150 targets, damaging “many kilometers” of the tunnel network.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday said the nation is prepared to continue the operation to “destroy the Hamas tunnel network” for “as long as necessary.”
“The party that bears the guilt for this confrontation is not us, it’s those attacking us,” Netanyahu said in a televised address, according to Reuters. “We are still in the midst of this operation, it is still not over and this operation will continue as long as necessary.”
“Unlike Hamas, which deliberately intends to harm civilians while hiding behind civilians, we are doing everything, but everything, to avoid or limit as much as possible harming civilians and to directly strike terrorists instead.”
Despite Hamas’ explicit calls for the destruction of Israel, a number of Democrat lawmakers in the United States have called on President Joe Biden to delay or stop a $735 million weapons sale to replenish Israel’s military, including Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib, who called PM Netanyahu “Apartheid-in-chief.”
“@POTUS + @SecBlinken: If you support a cease-fire, then get out of the way of the U.N. Security Council and join other countries in demanding it,” Tlaib tweeted. “Apartheid-in-chief Netanyahu will not listen to anyone asking nicely. He commits war crimes and openly violates international law.”
