Senior Hamas Official Sami Abu Zuhri: If The West, America Continue Their Support For Israel, Our Nation Will View Them As An Enemy; This Conflict Might Go Beyond The Borders Of Palestine

Sami Abu Zuhri, the head of the political department of Hamas abroad, warned in a January 5, 2024, broadcast on Al-Jazeera Network (Qatar) that the West and the U.S. need to reconsider their position regarding Israel. He said that if they do not stop their support for Israel, Hamas will consider them as enemies like the "Zionist occupation." Abu Zuhri said that the conflict will continue as long as there is an occupation, and that if the U.S. continues with the same policy, "this conflict might go beyond the borders of Palestine, and it might expand in scope."

Sami Abu Zuhri: "The U.S. government was, and still is, a partner to this [Israeli] aggression, but this should not stop us from sending a political message to the U.S. or to its Western allies. Hamas and the Palestinian people have not committed any crimes against the West, or Western societies, so why do you take these positions that cause the killing of our women and children, and the destruction of large parts of the Gaza Strip? We demand that the West become reasonable again with regard to what is happening. The atrocities that are taking place surpass even those of Europe in the Middle Ages, when they were killing one another."

"So this is a call to reason. We are not enemies of the West, and do not want to be. They are the ones who have chosen to line up [with Israel], and become enemies of the Palestinian people. The West in general, and the U.S. government in particular, need to reconsider their position, because this will have consequences, no doubt. The U.S. administration can still set its position right, and it should do so. Otherwise, our entire nation will view the U.S. government as the enemy. It is not only the Zionist occupation. If the U.S. insists on its position, our entire nation will view it, and treat it, as an enemy, just like the Zionist occupation."

"American intervention could save the occupation, for a month or two, or for a couple of years, but it will not end the fighting. This will not end the problem. As long as there is an occupation, this conflict will continue. This conflict might go beyond the borders of Palestine, and it might expand in scope. This is what the U.S. government needs to realize. They delude themselves if they think that by killing the leaders, they can kill the Hamas movement. They have killed Sheikh Yassin, Al-Rantisi, Al-Makadmeh, Abu Shanab, Shehade, and many of the founders of the movement. Has this finished Hamas? Hamas has only grown stronger. Hamas has become a government. Hamas has an army. They need to understand that Hamas is too big for them to kill. They need to recognize the truth and rights of our Palestinian people."