Statement following the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar:
“The martyrdom of the great leader Yahya Sinwar [deceased leader of Hamas] will only increase the resistance and the determination of all the free people in the world to continue on the path of liberation and victory…[the Houthis will continue to target] the Israeli enemy with missiles and drones, and these operations will not stop except for stopping the aggression and lifting the siege on the Gaza Strip and stopping the aggression on Lebanon.” “Houthi Ansar Allah Movement Claims Attack On Commercial Ship In Arabian Sea, Declares Death Of Hamas Leader Sinwar ‘Will Only Increase The Resistance,’” Middle East Media Research Institute, October 18, 2024, https://www.memri.org/jttm/houthi-ansar-allah-movement-claims-attack-commercial-ship-arabian-sea-declares-death-hamas.
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.
Mahmoud al-Zahar, Co-founder and senior member of Hamas
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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.
Mahmoud al-Zahar, Co-founder and senior member of Hamas
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<p><em>In an interview with PBS Frontline:</em></p>
<p>“Hamas is going to destroy Israel? <em>[laughs]</em> 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?”<span class="footnote"> Frontline, “Extended Interviews Mahmoud Zahar,” 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/.
On October 7, 2023, Hamas invaded southern Israel where, in the space of eight hours, hundreds of armed terrorists perpetrated mass crimes of brutality, rape, and torture against men, women and children. In the biggest attack on Jewish life in a single day since the Holocaust, 1,200 were killed, and 251 were taken hostage into Gaza—where 101 remain. One year on, antisemitic incidents have increased by record numbers.