(Jerusalem Center for Foreign Affairs) Khaled Abu Toameh - A letter sent recently by the Palestinian "resistance" groups in Gaza to Hassan Nasrallah, Secretary-General of Lebanon's Hizbullah militia, serves as a reminder that Iran and its terror proxies view the conflict with Israel as a Jihad (holy war) to eliminate the Jewish state. For Iran and its allies, the conflict does not concern borders, refugees, prisoners, settlements, or checkpoints. It is actually about their contention that Israel has no right to exist on Muslim-owned territory and that all Muslims must work toward wiping out Israel. In their eyes, this is a religious war between Muslims and non-Muslims. Hizbullah, Hamas, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad regularly describe their slain members as "mujahideen" (warriors or Jihadists), devout Muslims who sacrificed their lives against the "enemies of Allah and Islam." In mourning its slain men, Hizbullah has announced that each of them was killed "on the road to Jerusalem." These Muslim warriors were on a sacred mission to liberate Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa Mosque from the Jews. By calling its Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel the "Al-Aqsa Flood," Hamas is reminding everyone that the conflict against Israel is a religious one. Accordingly, any ceasefire or truce will only serve as a reprieve before they resume the Jihad to destroy Israel. The writer, a veteran Israeli journalist, is a senior fellow at the Jerusalem Center.
2024-08-27 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive