There are some here who believe that Hamas is bravely resisting Israel's greed for land and water but that good, gentle, wise Hamas will lay down their arms and pick up flowers when a 'just' peace is settled and the settlements are destroyed.
I think that notion needs to be revisited.
Today, Hamas killed an Israeli, injured four others, and hit a factory. Their spokesman had this to say,
"We will confront the occupier with all our means and we will continue striking the Zionist military sites and settlements around Gaza in response to the continued aggression against our people," Hamas said in a statement.
There are no settlements around Gaza. Only towns, cities and kibbutzim within Israel's recognized borders.
Hamas calls them settlements because they do not recognize Israel's right to the land. In fact, written within their charter is their promise to fulfill a prophecy by killing the Jews... not the Zionists, the Jews.
Moreover, if the links have been distant from each other and if obstacles, placed by those who are the lackeys of Zionism in the way of the fighters obstructed the continuation of the struggle, the Islamic Resistance Movement aspires to the realisation of Allah's promise, no matter how long that should take. The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him salvation, has said:
"The Day of Judgement will not come about until Moslems fight the Jews (killing the Jews), when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say O Moslems, O Abdulla, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him. Only the Gharkad tree, (evidently a certain kind of tree) would not do that because it is one of the trees of the Jews." (related by al-Bukhari and Moslem).
Hamas has said repeatedly that they want to "free Palestine from the river to the sea". They've wiped Israel off their maps, quite literally.
Last November they said
Hamas on Thursday called on the UN to rescind the 1947 decision to partition Palestine into two states, one for Jews and one for Arabs.
The group said in a statement, released on the 60th anniversary of the UN vote, that "Palestine is Arab Islamic land, from the river to the sea, including Jerusalem... there is no room in it for the Jews."
So, for all of you who think that Hamas is merely resistence, let's be clear about what you are really saying. You are saying that Tel Aviv, Netanya, Haifa, Eilat, Be'er Sheva and more all occupied land, settlements which should be returned to the Palestinians.