What happened
It has been three years since Hamas fighters crossed into Israel, carrying out actions that the group's founding charter had promised. The charter, published in 1988, explains the group's motivations and goals in its own words. According to the charter, Hamas's program is based on Islam, and the group's actions are a pursuit to apply and fulfill Islamic commands.
The charter frames the conflict with Israel as a religious one, with the goal of obliterating the Jewish state. It rules out diplomatic settlement, stating that the only solution to the Palestinian question is through jihad. Hamas classifies jihad as an armed religious obligation binding on every Muslim, requiring the expulsion of non-Muslims from Muslim land.
The group's leaders and fighters have consistently stated that their actions are driven by a desire to apply Islamic teachings, rather than a distortion of the religion. Despite this, many Western commentators have refused to take Hamas at its word, instead preferring to describe the group as a militant organization with a political wing.
This refusal to acknowledge the Islamic sources of Hamas's actions has been criticized as cowardly avoidance, which costs lives. The only way to prevent future massacres is to understand the group's motivations and take them at their word.
