Israeli media is reporting that a Hamas spokesperson declared on Tuesday that all Israelis have become “legitimate targets” for Hamas attacks. According to a Jerusalem Post report:
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July 8, 2014 Hamas vowed on Tuesday to step up its attacks on Israel, threatening that all Israelis have become a target for for the terror organization’s missiles.
In the Gaza Strip, defiant Hamas spokesmen vowed to continue firing rockets at Israel after an Israeli air strike reportedly killed seven people in a house in Gaza.
Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri accused Israel of perpetrating ‘massacres’ against women and children in Khan Yunis. Referring to an Israel Air Force bombing of a house belonging to a Hamas operative, Abu Zuhri said: ‘The Khan Yunis massacre against women and children is an ugly war crime. All Israelis have now become legitimate targets.’
Ismail al-Ashqar, a Hamas legislator, said that his movement would continue the rocket attacks until Israel succumbs to its demand and lifts the blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip.
Hussam Badran, a top Hamas figure, said that Israel’s ‘dream’ of eliminating the rockets would not be fulfilled.
‘The occupation began this aggression and we have the right to defend ourselves,’ he said. ‘This is a war against the whole Palestinian people.’”
The Hamascharter says that it is “one of the wings of the Muslim Brothers in Palestine” and soon after Hamas took over the Gaza strip, Muslim Brotherhood representatives traveled to Gaza from Egypt through the newly-opened border to review Hamas military formations. A Hamas journalist has acknowledged the role that the “international Muslim Brotherhood” has played in providing funds for the purchase of weapons and Hamas is known to be supported financially and politically by the global Muslim Brotherhood. A Muslim Brotherhood spokesman revealed that a coalition of London-based Muslim groups, including the Muslim Brotherhood, were behind the mass demonstrations staged to protest Israeli actions in the 2008 Gaza war and the Global Muslim Brotherhood and its Turkish affiliates were also intimately involved, along with the Turkish government, in the June 2010 Gaza flotilla that was involved in a violent altercation with Israeli naval forces. Following a period of seeming ascension related to the period of Egyptian rule by the Muslim Brotherhood, the organization was forced to scramble to try and find other state sponsors after Mohamed Morsi was deposed as President. In September 2013, it appeared that Hamas had succeeded in re-establishing close ties with Iran. In January 2013, Israeli intelligence sources claimed that Turkey has replaced Iran as the chief source of Hamas financing.
