Officials in the Religious Scholars Association of Palestine in Gaza issued a decree calling for the killing of Israeli soldiers and "settlers," inside and outside the Gaza Strip.
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The association is the central governing body that is affiliated with Hamas and functions from inside the enclave. They are charged with publishing religious and moral guidelines, including those issued to the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military arm of Hamas.
Since the war's second day, on October 8, while skirmishes and firefights were still raging inside Israeli territory, the decree called for the taking of lives.
Signed on behalf of "The Islamic nation's Religious scholars", it read: "Religious scholars make it unequivocally clear that any soldier and Zionist settler are to be killed, wherever they are found in all Muslim lands, both within and outside of Palestine."
Association senior official, Saleh al-Raqab, published an article on October 8 called "Oh Jihad warriors in Palestine", in which he wrote: "Allah, grant victory to Jihad warriors in Palestine, guide their strikes and gunfire upon the Jews' throats, stabilize the warriors' legs and bring forth their stabbing blades into their hearts.
"Allah, instill them into your soldiers' arms and enable them to kill the army of Jews, destroy the Jews' weapons, capture Jewish soldiers and destroy the Jews. Allah, paralyze their organs and freeze the blood in their arteries, give them a brutal defeat. Allah is great and victory is to Islam. Praise Allah."
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Hamas headcam during the terrorists massacre on October 7
(Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)
Officials in the Center for State Studies within the Israeli Foreign Ministry say these sort of texts showcase how strongly Hamas galvanize their military arm personnel to perform their ruthless acts inside Israeli territory, backed by religious scholars affiliated with Hamas.