Statement following Yahya Sinwar’s death:

“We are continuing Hamas’s path..[hostages] will not return … unless the aggression against our people in Gaza stops.”William Christou, Bethan McKernan, and Julian Borger, “Hamas recognises death of leader Yahya Sinwar but vows to keep fighting,” Guardian (London), October 18, 2024, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/oct/18/hamas-recognises-death-of-leader-yahya-sinwar-but-vows-to-keep-fighting.

In a televised announcement from an undisclosed location following the September 27 assassination of Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah:

“What we are doing is the bare minimum... We know that the battle may be long. We will win as we won in the liberation of 2006 in the face of the Israeli enemy.”“Lebanon’s Hezbollah will pick new leader at earliest opportunity, says its deputy chief,” Reuters, September 30, 2024, https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/lebanons-hezbollah-will-pick-new-leader-earliest-opportunity-says-its-deputy-2024-09-30/.

A statement entitled “The Martyrdom of Shaykh Ismael Haniyeh,” encouraging attacks on Israel and the U.S.:

“[Israel and the U.S.] are but two faces of the same coin, therefore it is necessary for us to target America and Israel in the whole world, just as American and Israel are waging a global war against us, the people of Islam.”“Al-Qaeda In The Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) Eulogizes Hamas Political Leader Haniyeh, Calls For Global Attacks On Israel, U.S.,” Middle East Media Research Institute, August 1, 2024, https://www.memri.org/jttm/al-qaeda-indian-subcontinent-aqis-eulogizes-hamas-political-leader-haniyeh-calls-global-attacks.

In an interview with PBS Frontline:

“Hamas is going to destroy Israel? [laughs] Because we have a nuclear weapon and F-16 jets and Apache helicopters and because, all the time, we are killing Israelis this is policy that is not acceptable. We are [using] primitive weapons to defend ourselves, to push the Israelis outside our land. So I think the question should be answered by the Israelis: Who is going to destroy the other? The people who occupied our area in 1948, who reoccupied our area in 1956, the people who reoccupied our land and Arab land in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Egypt in 1967, who went to Lebanon and killed thousands of people in the refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila. Who is going to destroy whom?” Frontline, “Extended Interviews Mahmoud Zahar,” PBS, May 9, 2006, https://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/palestine503/interviews_zahar.html.

<p><em>In an interview with PBS Frontline:</em></p>

<p>&ldquo;Hamas is going to destroy Israel?&nbsp;<em>[laughs]</em>&nbsp;Because we have a nuclear weapon and F-16 jets and Apache helicopters and because, all the time, we are killing Israelis this is policy that is not acceptable. We are [using] primitive weapons to defend ourselves, to push the Israelis outside our land. So I think the question should be answered by the Israelis: Who is going to destroy the other? The people who occupied our area in 1948, who reoccupied our area in 1956, the people who reoccupied our land and Arab land in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Egypt in 1967, who went to Lebanon and killed thousands of people in the refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila. Who is going to destroy whom?&rdquo;<span class="footnote"> Frontline, &ldquo;Extended Interviews Mahmoud Zahar,&rdquo; PBS, May 9, 2006, <a href="https://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/palestine503/interviews_zahar.html">https://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/palestine503/interviews_zahar.html</a>.</span></p>

“We have not sought escalations until now, we have been fighting in support of Gaza but keeping in mind the Lebanese national interest. Every time one of our commanders was killed, our response was heightened but always measured. But an assassination of a top leader in the Dahia [Hezbollah’s stronghold in southern Beirut] must be treated differently. Our response is coming, God willing, from us and the axis of resistance — and it will be strong.”Emanuel Fabian, Times of Israel staff, Gianluca Pacchiani, and agencies, “Israeli jets set off sonic booms in Beirut as Nasrallah threatens ‘strong’ reprisal,” Times of Israel, August 6, 2024, https://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-jets-set-off-sonic-booms-in-beirut-as-nasrallah-threatens-strong-reprisal/.

Following the July 30 assassination of Hezbollah commander Fu’ad Shukr:

“You will laugh a little and cry a lot, as you do not know which red lines you have crossed.”Don Jacobson, “Hezbollah leader vows retaliation against Israel at funeral of slain commander,” United Press International, August 1, 2024, https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2024/08/01/lebanon-Hezbollah-leader-vows-retaliation-against-Israel-funeral-slain-commander/8231722547751/.

After the death of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran in an alleged Israeli assassination:

“We see avenging his blood our duty.”Farnaz Fassihi, “Iran’s Leader Orders Attack on Israel for Haniyeh Killing, Officials Say,” New York Times, July 31, 2024, https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/31/world/middleeast/iran-orders-attack-israel.html.

Televised statement after an Israeli strike on Houthi targets in Hodeidah’s port in response to a July 19 Houthi drone attack on Tel Aviv:

“We will respond to this blatant Israeli aggression and will not hesitate to strike the enemy’s vital targets. We have prepared, with the help of God Almighty, for a long war with this enemy until the aggression stops and the siege on the Palestinian people is lifted.” Kareem Fahim, Alon Rom, Steve Hendrix, and Mohamad El Chamaa, “Israel strikes Yemen port after Houthis claim drone attack in Tel Aviv,” Washington Post, July 20, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/07/20/israel-yemen-hodeida-drone-tel-aviv/.

“We, in the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), commend the exceptional military operation carried out by the Yemeni armed forces and the brothers Ansar Allah [movement], which targeted the heart of Tel Aviv, the center of the Zionist entity using the combat drone (Yafa). This heroic operation marks the beginning of a phase in targeting the depth of the fascist Zionist entity and its internal front in response to the ongoing brutal aggression on our defenseless Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip and in support of the Palestinian resistance.

“While we hail the positions of the brothers in Ansar Allah in Yemen, Hezbollah, the Jamaa Islamiya in Lebanon, and the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, we call upon all the forces and elements of our Ummah [Islamic nation] to unite and join the battle of honor and dignity, and strike the fascist occupying regime in support of the Palestinian people in Gaza, and in defense of the holy sites desecrated by the fascist settlers, most notably the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque.”“Press Statement,” Hamas - Online English Telegram Channel, July 19, 2024.