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Source: https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/21572/hamas-weapons
Why Hamas Must Not Be Allowed to Keep Its Weapons
(Gatestone Institute) Khaled Abu Toameh - Recently, two senior Hamas officials, Mahmoud Mardawi and Bassam Naim, announced their group's absolute rejection of any proposal related to laying down its weapons. They said that other Palestinian terrorist groups in Gaza also reject any plan to disarm. Hamas was not established to end the Israeli "occupation" of Gaza. Hamas was created with the sole purpose of eliminating Israel and replacing it with an Islamist state. As an extension of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas believes that it is the duty of every Muslim to engage in jihad against Israel. Hamas sees no difference between an Israeli soldier and an Israeli civilian. To Hamas, everyone in Israel is a "Zionist invader." Hamas wants to keep its weapons so that it could kill Jews and oppress Palestinians who dare to speak out against the terrorist group. It is a waste of time to demand that Hamas just be removed from power in Gaza. The Trump administration actually needs to place the issue of disarming Hamas and all the Palestinian terrorist groups not among its demands, but at the top. The writer, a veteran Israeli journalist, is a senior fellow at the Gatestone Institute and the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs.