A top Hamas representative told Hezbollah’s al-Manar news that Israel has “no future in the region.”
The representative said there is “no compromise” on the subject.
The statement from Hamas comes as U.S. officials reportedly told Axios that Secretary of State Antony Blinken asked the State Department to review various policy options for the recognition of a Palestinian state.
Some of the courses of action the United States may take include bilaterally recognizing the state of Palestine, not using its veto to block the United Nations Security Council from admitting Palestine as a full UN member state, and encouraging other countries to recognize Palestine, the outlet reported.
In December, Hamas Senior Official Sami Abu Zuhri called for “violent acts” to be taken against U.S. and U.K. “interests.”
Appearing on Al-Aqsa TV, Zuhri said, “When [U.S. Secretary of State] Blinken is justifying the killing of women and children, the sons of our nation should say to him: You are the enemy, just like Netanyahu, and you must pay the price, just like [Israeli Prime Minister] Netanyahu. We should keep this in mind.”
“Now it is our nation’s turn to pressure the Americans to stop this war. We need violent acts against American and British interests everywhere, as well as the interests of all the countries that support the occupation,” he added.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said during a visit to Israel Defense Forces (IDF) troops that half of Hamas’s terrorists had been killed or wounded as of Monday.
“Total victory is essential because it ensures the security of Israel. Total victory is the only way in which we can ensure additional historic peace agreements, which await. Total victory will strike a mortal blow against the axis of evil: Iran, Hezbollah, the Houthis and – of course – Hamas,” a statement released by the Prime Minister’s Office said.
“Therefore, there is no substitute for total victory. One need only to think of what would happen without total victory: The displaced will not return, the next massacre will only be a matter of time and Iran, Hezbollah and others will simply celebrate here and destroy the Middle East; therefore, there is no substitute for total victory.”
