Categories: Guest Blog / Israel At War: Operation Amud Anan
Who Shot First?
Print
Share
Hamas has said that the IDF's killing of one of their top terrorists was a declaration of war.
But who declared war first? The official Hamas Charter, written in August 1988, says:
- "Israel exists and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it has obliterated others before it"
- "There is no solution for the Palestinian question except through Jihad. Initiatives, proposals, and international conferences are all a waste of time and vain endeavors."
Hamas' charter is itself an official declaration of war, and all who join Hamas are automatically the sworn enemies of Israel. The fact that Israel chooses not to attack Hamas for long periods of time does not in any way absolve Hamas of its guilt of being in a permanent state of war against Israel for the past 24 years. So when its spokesmen try to influence public opinion by accusing Israel of starting a war against it, they are being the worst kind of hypocrites.
Let no one be deceived that the current conflagration was started by this or that attack in 2012; those who founded Hamas declared war on Israel in 1988, and no amount of media hype can change that fact.
June 21, 2026 
