IDF operation updates:
Israeli Defense Forces continue to intensify the operation in Gaza this week from the ground, the air and the sea, taking hold of strategic Hamas outposts in the northern and southern regions of the Gaza Strip. Since the onset of the operation, the IDF has taken hold of Hamas’ parliament, its command-and-control centers and weapons facilities- most of which are embedded in civil infrastructure such as schools, mosques and residential buildings.
In the Gaza City neighborhood of Shejaiya, IDF troops directed targeted airstrikes on Hamas terrorists spotted moving between buildings of a confirmed Hamas command center. The IDF airstrike led to secondary explosions at the site, indicating that Hamas rigged the structure with explosives aimed at attacking Israeli forces.
Since the onset of the Israel-Hamas war, the IDF has uncovered over 1,500 terror tunnel shafts and underground passages in Gaza constructed by Hamas and used as their underground operating facilities. Israeli forces have also uncovered and destroyed a large number of weapons depots and production plants, both above and below ground.
On the northern front, Israel continues to stay on high-alert in the area and is prepared to intensify its retaliation and military activity in the north while continuing to strike and eliminate terrorist outposts on the border. Hezbollah continues their attacks on Israeli posts along the northern border, including a number of launches this week that fell in open areas in Israeli territory.
Over the years, Hamas has constructed a complex network of underground terror tunnels, transforming into a full-scale subterranean city of terror, with tunnels wide and tall enough for vehicles to drive through and transport terrorists and weapons from one location to another in minimal time. It is important to mention that these tunnels were built with the money of international organizations such as UNWRA, and Arab countries such as Qatar, who openly back Hamas and its terrorism. A large sum of these funds were meant to support civilian life and strengthen Gaza’s civil infrastructure and social wellbeing. But instead, the governing body in the Gaza strip, the Hamas terrorist regime, used it to bolster its ability to one day eliminate the Jewish State. Just as they stole money and resources from their own people throughout the years, they are stealing humanitarian aid and fuel from innocent Gazans trapped in the crosshairs of the war today.
The heads of Hamas, Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif, and others, are presumed to be deep underground in southern Gaza, surrounded by some of the same Nukhba commandos who led the terror attacks on October 7. It is also thought that these Hamas leaders may have surrounded themselves with a large number of Israeli captives, using them as human shields for the inevitable day when the IDF will finally lay its hands on Sinwar and the other Hamas leaders.
Hundreds of kilometers of tunnels in Gaza reflect the ethos of Hamas – of the war that they initiated against the State of Israel and the Jewish people, and the great suffering they brought to their own people throughout the years and since the onset of the Hamas-launched war with Israel. Their extreme beliefs and hate-filled ideology led to suffering, misery, impoverishment and destruction- they have offered nothing but this cruelty to their people.
Leaders of the world have an obligation to ensure that Sinwar, who paints himself as a great leader, is remembered as a cruel and relentless villain of humanity.
There is no better way to become fully acquainted with the true nature of Hamas, its leadership, and its overt antisemitism than by reading the organization’s charter, which was issued in August 1988. While a revised version amended some of the original text of 1988, it is important to note that the original charter was never explicitly revoked.
I would like to emphasize that the Hamas manifesto is not a historic document that was tucked away and forgotten with the rise to power of the terrorist organization. It serves as the backbone, foundation and force that dictates not only Hamas’ internal organizational activity, but also its governorship over Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip. Its vile teachings are studied by Gaza’s children in grade school and summer camps; it is memorized and quoted by Palestinian youth; it is taught in religious courses about the Quran and Islam; it is integrated into theater and entertainment. This charter is the source of evil and destruction.
We cannot turn a blind eye to the fact that the teachings of Hamas have spread to Palestinians in the West Bank as well. As seen in various opinion polls and by the reality on the ground, the ideology present in the Hamas charter has permeated to Palestinians and extremist factions in the region who want nothing more than the destruction of the Jewish State “from the river to the sea”.
The world must not let the Hamas charter spread any further. If we don’t change the narrative in Gaza- if we don’t remove hate from its school curriculum and eradicate extremist ideals- terrorism will continue to flourish, and Israel won’t be the only state affected.
Following are excerpts from the original version of the Charter of Hamas:
Violence against Jews:
- The Day of Judgment will not come about until Moslems fight Jews and kill them. Then, the Jews will hide behind rocks and trees, and the rocks and trees will cry out: ‘O Moslem, there is a Jew hiding behind me, come and kill him. (Article 7)”
- “There is no solution to the Palestinian problem except by jihad. Initiatives, proposals, and international conferences are a waste of time and a farce. (Article 12)”
Elimination of Jews and the Jewish state:
- “Our fight with the Jews is very extensive and very grave, and it requires all the sincere efforts. It is a step that must be followed by further steps; it is a brigade that must be reinforced by brigades upon brigades from this vast Islamic world, until the enemies are defeated and Allah’s victory is revealed.”
- “Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it.” (Preamble)
Antisemitism and stereotypes:
- “There is no end to what can be said about [the Jewish involvement in] local wars and world wars. They [the Jews] were behind World War I, through which they achieved the destruction of the Islamic Caliphate, reaped material profits, took control of numerous resources, obtained the Balfour Declaration, and established the League of the United Nations [sic] so as to rule the world through this organization.”
- “They [the Jews] were [also] behind World War II, through which they reaped enormous profits from commerce in war materials and paved the way for the establishment of their state. They [also] suggested the formation of the United Nations and the Security Council to replace the League of the United Nations [sic] and to rule the world through this [new organization]. Wherever there is war in the world, it is they who are pulling the strings behind the scenes. ‘Whenever they ignite the fire of war, Allah extinguishes it. They strive to spread evil in the land, but Allah does not love those who do evil. (Koran, 5:64)’”
The Hamas charter, its original version, has become the manifesto of Gaza and has paved the way for a generation of youngsters who believe that the Jewish people don’t have the right to exist. Falsely connected to Islam, we must note that Islamic religion does not encompass these ideals, its values are opposite to those promoted by Hamas.
The world must pay attention to the intents listed in Hamas’ charter. Hamas is not interested in a country or territory. It is the struggle of an extremist religious narrative opposed to Islam. When one adds to this the fact that Hamas raped the women they captured and holds captive women and the elderly, as well as those with chronic illnesses who require medication, it becomes clear that the entire premise of Hamas stands in opposition to Islamic religious practices.
Yahya Sinwar must be cast outside the camp of Islam, and rather than be remembered as a hero, he must be remembered as the one who brought a great catastrophe to the Palestinians and operated outside the boundaries of Islam. In the same way that we teach about the Nazis as a movement that existed outside the norms of humanity, so too we must speak of Hamas and Sinwar. The true face of Sinwar does not fight for his country. It fights for death and destruction.
One of the great dangers of people such as Sinwar is that his influence and the false narratives about his leadership will trickle down to the next generation of Palestinian leaders, who may seek to emulate him and mimic his beliefs. It is imperative that Sinwar’s legacy not be falsely labeled as heroic. His goal has been genocidal – to kill people. This was evident, not only by Hamas’ actions on October 7, but in its plans to go even deeper into Israeli territory, which thankfully did not come to pass.
When looking at the enemy in the North, we must also realize that the intents of Hamas and its operational objectives under the leadership of Yahya Sinwar are similar to those of Hezbollah under the leadership of Hassan Nasrallah. The extreme hate and antisemitic beliefs that dictate Hamas are the same beliefs that drive Hezbollah. The world must not forget that Israel found and destroyed terror tunnels coming into its borders on both fronts – from within Lebanon and Gaza. Just as Sinwar used his Nukhba troops to rape, pillage, and murder Israelis, Nasrallah can unleash his Radwan forces against Israeli citizens living in the north. It is likely that Nasrallah has similar plans to attack Israel.
It is clear that Israel’s war with Hamas will take some time to complete. Yet even if it takes months, we must enable the IDF to rid Israel of the Hamas infrastructure, its underground city, and eliminate Yahya Sinwar and the evil that he stands for.
At the same time, we must ensure that the Hamas charter is rejected and relegated to the dustbin of history in the same way that the Nazi way of thinking was discarded. We know that in Gaza, it was quite common for six-and-seven-year-old children to speak enthusiastically about murdering Jews. We cannot allow these teachings to continue. We cannot allow these beliefs to spread further. It is incumbent on the world’s leaders, from the region and beyond, to make sure that teachings about hate of Jewish people and the State of Israel stop.
Sinwar is no savior. He went against all of the principles of Islam and brought destruction and death to his people and to Israel. It is our responsibility to tell the true story of Hamas and its evils. We cannot let Hamas be remembered as a glorified freedom movement in human history.