Hamas leader Mahmoud Al-Zahar stated that the terrorist organization intends on establishing an Islamic state in all of Palestine, insinuating the destruction of Israel, according to a Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) translation of Al-Ayyam last week.
"[Some] have said Hamas wants to create an Islamic emirate in Gaza. We won't do that, but we will build an Islamic state in Palestine, all of Palestine," stated Al-Zahar, a senior Hamas political bureau member.
Moreover, Al-Zahar believes that if Hamas established a military position in the West Bank it would be capable of destroying the Jewish state.
According to the PMW report, "Al-Zahar said that if his movement [Hamas] were to 'transfer what it has or just a small part of it to the West Bank, we would be able to settle the battle of the final promise with a speed that no one can imagine.'"
Al-Zahar referenced a segment of the Quran concerning "the final promise" to justify a future war to eliminate Israel:
"Then when the final promise came, [We sent your enemies]... to enter the temple in Jerusalem, as they entered it the first time, and to destroy what they had taken over with [total] destruction.'" [Surah 17:7]
In August, a Hamas spokesman admitted that Hamas' main objective is the "liberation of our Palestinian land" and not simply the lifting of Israel's internationally legal blockade of Gaza.
"The time has come for us to say that our true war is not aimed at opening the border crossings. Out true war is aimed at the liberation of Jerusalem, Allah willing," said Sami Abu Zuhri to a cheering Palestinian crowd.
During the latest war, Israel foiled an extensive Hamas plot to initiate a Third Intifada against Israel and facilitate the overthrow of the Palestinian Authority (PA) in the West Bank, akin to the terrorist organization's 2007 coup against Fatah in Gaza.
A recent Palestinian poll confirms that Hamas' popularity remains higher than the Palestinian Authority (PA) in both Gaza and the West Bank. According to the Palestinian Center for Policy Research, if elections took place in the West Bank between Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and PA President Mahmoud Abbas, Haniyeh would emerge victorious with 55 percent support over Abbas' 38 percent.
Despite the signing of a Hamas-Israel ceasefire following the 50-day war this past summer, the terrorist organization continues to produce rocketsand remains committed to waging a future war against Israel.
The Israeli Navy has foiled multiple attempts to smuggle weapons manufacturing items to Hamas off the coast of Gaza since the end of the war, according to a senior navy commander speaking with the Jerusalem Post on Thursday.