During the weekend, Yahya Sinwar, leader of the radical Islamic terrorist organization in the Gaza Strip, Hamas, gave a speech to supporters of the group threatening that his organization will not hesitate to enact terrorist attacks against the state of Israel if its people “violate” the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.
This comes as Palestinians have instigated riots and attacks against Israeli civilians and security forces for the last few weeks on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Sinwar’s latest threats are nothing new for the state of Israel but definitely a warning as this same scenario has unfolded many times over against the Jewish state.
For decades, Hamas has used terrorist tactics like suicide bombings, knife stabbings, stoning, and rioting to instigate attacks against Israeli civilians and soldiers. However, the one method of attack that this organization is really known for is the launching of rockets, missiles, mortars, and other projectiles from the Gaza Strip into Israeli civilian areas thanks to the Islamic Republic of Iran, which provides the terrorist organization the weaponry it needs for free. The Hamas terrorist leader vowed to use a slate of one hundred and eleven thousand rockets into Israel if called to “defend” Jerusalem and the Temple Mount in the future.
Sinwar referred to the past rioting committed by Hamas supporters against Israeli police at the Al-Aqsa Mosque, declaring it an operation and stated that it will only continue to increase. According to the Hamas leader, Israel is seeking to partition the Temple Mount as what he called the “first step” to destroy the Al-Aqsa Mosque and build a temple, citing the recent uptick in Jewish visitors to the holy site as his evidence. Sinwar recognized the changing winds of global opinion and news coverage against Israel and in favor of Hamas and its terrorist actions.
In his speech to Hamas supporters, Sinwar called on the Palestinian people to prepare for a great battle against Israel if their “occupation” does not cease its aggression against the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Sinwar further stated that by violating the Al-Aqsa Mosque and Jerusalem, the Israeli is inviting what he called “religious war.” Additionally, the Hamas leader threatened violence against Jewish synagogues around the world should the Jews not cease their “aggression.” Sinwar continued to praise the recent terror attacks against Israelis that killed 15 in the West Bank, encouraging more Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza to engage in terrorist attacks while also urging the Islamist Ra’am party in the Israeli Knesset to withdraw from Israel’s current governing coalition.
In 1967, after the Six-Day War, Israel controlled the Temple Mount or Al-Aqsa Mosque within the Old City of Jerusalem, but then handed administration of the site back to the Waqf under Jordanian rule. The Mosque has been maintained by Israeli security control who arrest Jewish individuals who pray near the Temple Mount, but allow Muslims to pray and engage in their religious practices. In the past and currently, Hamas and its supporters have used Al-Aqsa Mosque as a place to rally its supporters and engage in terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians and security forces by storing weapons and stones to shoot and throw at their targets.
Hamas has become the state of Israel’s chief terrorist rival ever since the late 1980s. The organization was able to take shape thanks in large part to the Islamic Revolution of 1979 in Iran, where the Ayatollah Khomeini announced the destruction of the state of Israel and Jerusalem “liberation.” Since then, Hamas has become one of Iran’s strongest proxies against Israel, launching rockets and missiles from Gaza into Israel, while its leadership continues to give speeches declaring that the Jewish state will one day fall.
Hamas and its leadership also slammed the Arab Ra’am and its party chief Mansour Abbas as a traitor and a sellout. However, the recent suspension of membership from Ra’am in the Israeli coalition with several right-wing parties comes as a benefit to Hamas who want the Israeli government to be engulfed in chaos that it cannot focus on stopping the terrorist organization’s attacks against Israel. After Mansour Abbas stated that Israel was a Jewish state and would remain as one, Sinwar stated that his statement was the “height of degeneracy.”
Hamas has not taken responsibility for the recent terrorist attacks that have occurred against Israeli soldiers, civilians and policy officers but has continued to praise the attackers and hold them in martyrdom. In his speech, the Hamas leadership praised several Palestinian terrorists and urged Arabs living in Israel to kill all Israelis. The Hamas official stated that Arabs should pick up everything and anything that can hurt and harm Jewish people no matter how small the weapon might be.
Sinwar then equated the current condition of the Palestinian people, which Hamas has contributed towards, to the current international support for Ukrainian refugees. Throughout the Russian-Ukraine war, members of the national media have used the tragedy to compare Ukrainians and Palestinians.
