Hamas Political Bureau member Fathi Hammad, former Hamas minister of the interior, gave an address at a July 12 rally in Gaza, in which he said that “the cleansing of Palestine of the filth of the Jews, and their uprooting from it” would happen by 2022.
“The second thing is the establishment of the Caliphate, after the nation has been healed of its cancer—the Jews—Allah willing,” said Hammad, stressing that despite Hamas’s participation in the peaceful Return March, they had not abandoned the military path of Jihad.
His statements aired on the Al-Jazeera network. In another rally, on July 13, Hammad threatened Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman, saying: “We are coming to chop your heads off your necks!”
The July 13 rally was broadcast by the Hamas-owned Al-Aqsa TV channel.