Hamas: Our struggle is only against the occupation, not Jews elsewhere

"These remarks do not reflect the official stances of Hamas and its policy," stated Hamas in response to Hamas official Fathi Hamad who on Friday told Palestinians to "attack every Jew on Earth."

By ALON EINHORN, TZVI JOFFRE
Palestinian Hamas militants attend the funeral of their comrades who were killed in an explosion, in the central Gaza Strip May 6, 2018 (photo credit: REUTERS/IBRAHEEM ABU MUSTAFA)
Palestinian Hamas militants attend the funeral of their comrades who were killed in an explosion, in the central Gaza Strip May 6, 2018
(photo credit: REUTERS/IBRAHEEM ABU MUSTAFA)
"These remarks do not reflect the official stances of Hamas and its policy," stated Hamas on Monday in response to Hamas official Fathi Hamad who on Friday told Palestinians worldwide to "attack every Jew on planet Earth."
In the statement on their website, Hamas stressed that it's stances and policy "state that our struggle is only against the Israeli occupation which occupies our land and desecrates our holy places."
"If you don't lift the siege, we will explode in the faces of our enemies, Allah willing," threatened Hamad on Friday, according to MEMRI. "And the explosion won't just be in Gaza – it will also be in the West Bank and abroad, Allah willing. Our brothers abroad are still preparing. They are warming up."
"Oh, you seven million Palestinians abroad, enough warming up! There are Jews everywhere! We must attack every Jew on planet Earth – we must slaughter and kill them, with Allah's help. Enough warming up!" added Hamad.
"Our struggle is not with Jews elsewhere or with Judaism as a religion. Hamas has condemned and continues to condemn any attacks against the Jews and their worship houses worldwide," added the Hamas statement.
"And I say to those in the West Bank: How long will you sit in silence? You can buy knives for five shekels! How much is the neck of a Jew worth to us – isn't it worth five shekels, or even less?" stated Hamad on Friday, according to MEMRI. "By Allah, [the Jews] will be killed by our [explosive] belts, Allah willing! There are new factories for [explosive] belts and they are up and running. Anybody who wants one can wait his turn... you can have one, and you, and you... Go!"
In response to Hamad's remarks, Hamas official Ahmed Yussuf stated earlier on Monday that Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh "needs to stress that our conflict is with the occupation army, and not Jews from all over the world," according to KAN.
"Those words do not represent Hamas," Yussuf claimed, and called on Hanyieh to stress that the fight is not against all Jews, but only against the occupation army.
UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Nickolay Mladenov responded on Twitter to Hamad's statement, claiming that such words must "be clearly condemned by ALL."

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Israel and Palestine Director at the Human Rights Watch Omar Shakir also reacted to Hamad's words on Twitter, claiming that "Calls to kill based on one's religion have no place in a freedom movement."

Hamad's words were said after the IDF "mistakenly" killed a Hamas member on Friday.
The man, identified as 28-year-old Mahmoud Ahmad Sabri al-Adham, was shot by troops as he approached the border fence in the northern Gaza Strip.
Israel later apologized for the incident, saying it was a “misunderstanding” and that troops had fired on him after he had been “misidentified.”
Anna Ahronheim contributed to this story.