Hamas marks 35th anniversary with threats to ‘liberate’ Jerusalem from Jews

The Islamist terrorist organization Hamas marked its 35th anniversary by launching different propaganda events in the Gaza Strip. 

Hamas, which was established in 1987 as an offshoot of the radical Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood organization, has been the ruler of Gaza ever since it expelled its rival Fatah in violent clashes in 2007. 

While Fatah has sent mixed messages about war and peace with Israel in Arabic and English, Hamas has systematically ruled out any peace with Israel. The Hamas charter, which is considered one of the most anti-Semitic documents since the Holocaust, explicitly demands the destruction of the Jewish state. Hamas uses a map of “Palestine” with the State of Israel erased completely. 

Hamas frequently uses Jerusalem as a political tool for its radical Islamist agenda and portrays itself as the “defender of Jerusalem,” Hamas seeks to strengthen its position relative to political rivals like Fatah and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. 

In an announcement, Hamas officials said that Jerusalem would play a central role in its propaganda machinery in celebration of its 35th anniversary.

Hamas official Maher Sabra vowed that the Islamist terrorist organization would “liberate” Jerusalem from the Jewish state. 

“We are coming with a roaring flood to uproot the occupier and that the Gaza Strip will stand, with all its capabilities, together with the West Bank and Jerusalem,” Sabra said. 

Senior Hamas official Osama al-Mazini vowed that the terror group would not allow Israel to “judaize” Jerusalem or the Al Aqsa Mosque. 

In a threat to Israeli Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu, al-Mazini said, the “warriors will come to uproot you. … We will continue to carry the banner of truth and resistance until the liberation of Palestine.”

The term “liberation of Palestine” is usually used as a euphemism for Israel’s destruction. 

Like other Hamas officials, Sabra also ruled out any prospects for a peaceful coexistence with the Jewish state. 

“You have no place on our land, and if you want peace, leave Palestine,” said Sabra, according to the Arab news site Safa. 

In May 2021, Hamas fired rockets toward the Israeli capital Jerusalem, which eventually led to a war between Israel and the Gaza-ruling terrorist organization. 

Hamas has also tried to strengthen its influence among the Arab populations in Israel, Judea and Samaria. On Thursday, the Israel Security Agency, known as “Shin Bet,” announced the arrest of a Gazan working inside Israel, after Israeli authorities suspected the man, Saber Abu Thabat, was spying for Hamas. 

Thabat, 28, who hails from the Gazan city Deir al-Balah, had permission to work inside Israel. He was reportedly arrested in November after Israeli authorities discovered that he was recruited to “gather intelligence and carry out missions in Israel.”

“As part of his interrogation, and due to his activity in Hamas and the knowledge he was exposed to, a vast amount of information was obtained about the operating methods of Hamas’ intelligence mechanisms, including the identity of operators, locations of tunnels, weapon stockpiles and military locations from which the organization operates,” the Shin Bet stated. 

Unlike Fatah, Hamas has been boycotted by both Western and Arab states. Hamas is designated a terrorist organization by Israel, the United States, Canada, Japan, Australia and the European Union. 

Some European countries insist on distinguishing between the political and military wings of Hamas; however, last November, Great Britain outlawed the entire organization, branding it a threat to Jews and society at large.