In an article published July 16, 2013 on Felesteen.ps, a website affiliated with Hamas, Hamas Refugee Affairs Department head Dr 'Issam 'Adwan argued that Hamas had the right to attack Israeli embassies and interests as well as senior Israeli officials anywhere in the world. He added that the resistance is also entitled to harm the interests of Israel's allies, headed by the U.S.
Dr. 'Issam 'Adwan[1]
In his article, 'Adwan called for opening Hamas liaison offices in the Arab and Islamic countries "in order to recruit support, material and moral assistance, and even manpower assistance." Hinting at the Palestinian Authority, he stated that the resistance "has the right to smite with an iron fist any hand that seeks to rip apart the [Palestinian] people's unity and [cause it to] abandon its rights."
It should be noted that this article is unusual in that to date, senior Hamas officials have adhered to the movement's position that there should be no attacks outside the borders of Palestine.
The following is a translation of the main points of the article:[2]
"The Palestinian resistance is entitled to expand and diversify its means and tools of resistance; this is a legitimate resistance that defends a defenseless people that has fallen under an oppressive occupation which is supported by the global forces of evil. No one has the right to condemn the resistance for any of the methods that it adopts, because it knows better than everyone else what is good for it and for its noble objectives.
"The Palestinian resistance requires the Palestinian people to remain united under the resistance banner, and it [the resistance] has the right to smite with an iron fist any hand that seeks to rip apart the people's unity and [cause it to] abandon its rights. It must also pursue the agents of the occupation wherever they may be, even outside Palestine, because leaving them in peace damages the Palestinian cause and places the Palestinian people, its leadership, and its resistance in grave danger.
"The resistance may find itself forced to attack the enemy's interests and senior officials outside the occupied territory. It is incumbent upon the honorable countries to stand alongside the occupied Palestinian people and assist it in removing the obstacles that stand in its way. By doing so, they [will be acting] in accordance with the principle of the right of peoples to self-determination, and in accordance with international decisions condemning the occupation and encouraging resistance to it by all means.
"It is the right of the Palestinian resistance [to request that] the friendly Arab and Islamic peoples and governments open liaison offices in these arenas in order to recruit support, material and moral assistance, and even manpower assistance. Anyone claiming that he supports the Palestinian people while at the same time denying the resistance this right is making a specious argument.
"The Palestinian resistance may find at a certain stage that the path of martyrdom operations is more effective, and it must not rule out the use of any method that can inflict pain on the enemy and deter it. Friendly nations and countries must support the action of the resistance and must condemn the occupation. The resistance may find itself at a certain stage forced to damage the interests of the [Israeli] occupation's allies, and the parties that provide it with funds, arms, and media support. It is the resistance that will decide when to adopt this path, and how, when, and where.
"It is the Palestinian resistance's right to transfer the battle against the occupation to any area where the occupation is located, for the [effective] principle is that the countries of the world do not have reciprocal relations with the occupation and do not grant it legitimacy, and therefore the enemy's embassies worldwide are a target. The principle is that these countries should not allow the occupation to maintain embassies [in them], particularly when the resistance [itself] has no embassies there. This distortion must be rectified.
"It is the resistance's right to obtain weapons and money everywhere in Arab or foreign territory. If UN decisions allow the occupied Palestinian people [to wage] an armed struggle, how can this struggle be armed if the countries of the world, and particularly the Arab ones, do not comply with these decisions and refuse to allow the transfer of weapons and money to the Palestinian resistance?
"What we call resistance, our occupier enemy and its allies call terrorism. Will the resistance continue to stand with its arms folded when it is falsely accused of terrorism? The UN has still not released an international definition of terrorism, while it has released a number of decisions that allow various kinds of resistance, including armed resistance. In any case, the occupation's allies, headed by the U.S., have placed the Palestinian resistance movements, headed by Hamas, on the list of terror organizations – though they have used none of the abovementioned legitimate means of resistance. As the saying goes, 'if I am drowning, I don't fear getting wet.'"
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