A letter sent recently by the Palestinian “resistance” groups in the Gaza Strip to Hassan Nasrallah, Secretary-General of Lebanon’s Hezbollah 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 Israel’s continued existence in the Middle East.
They contend that Israel has no right to exist on Muslim-owned territory (Waqf) and that it is the responsibility of all Muslims to carry the banner of jihad in the world toward the objective of wiping out Israel. In their eyes, this is a religious war between Muslims and non-Muslims who have “usurped” Muslim-owned territory.
“By Allah’s will, we will witness your might and your Jihad in action, alongside our brothers in the Axis of Resistance—from Islamic Iran to Arab Syria, from proud Iraq to dear Yemen, which has inscribed the most profound meanings of loyalty to Palestine and its cause in Islamic and Arab history with blood and gunpowder,” the Palestinian groups wrote in their letter to Nasrallah. “Today, dear fighting heroes, the time has come to advance toward opening the gate of Khaybar once again and to work for the eradication of ‘Israel’ from existence. Victory is near, and we have seen it through the blessed efforts of our glorious fighters in our steadfast [Gaza] Strip and our heroic West Bank. So, patience until victory and the full liberation of beloved Palestine and its sanctities. May Allah accept your Jihad, patience, and sacrifices. Indeed, it is a jihad of victory or martyrdom.”
Khaybar was a Jewish stronghold in the Arabian desert. In the year 628 C.E., a few years after the prophet Mohammed’s migration from Mecca to Medina, Khaybar fell into the hands of his army. The battle of Khaybar resulted in the subjugation, mass expulsion and slaughter of the area’s Jewish communities.
A 1,400-year-old religious crusade
Muslims who seek the destruction of Israel sometimes chant, “Khaybar, Khaybar, ya yahud! Jaish Mohammed soufa ya’oud!” (“Khaybar, Khaybar, Oh Jews! The army of Mohammed will return!”)
Hamas first used the slogan during the first Intifada, which erupted in 1987. The battle cry is a warning to Jews that they will meet the same fate as the Jews of Khaybar.
In their publications and discourse, Hezbollah, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad—regularly describe their slain members who are killed by Israel as “mujahideen” (warriors or jihadists). The goal is to show that these men are devout Muslims who sacrificed their lives during the jihad against the “enemies of Allah and Islam.”
In mourning its slain men, Hezbollah has been announcing that each one of them was killed “on the road to Jerusalem.” The message is clear: 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 seeking to remind everyone that the conflict against Israel is a religious one.
The attack, according to Hamas officials, came in response to the “desecration” of the mosque by Jews, in reference to tours by Jews of the Temple Mount. The intention is to present Jews as “aggressors” and “desecrators” of Islam’s third holiest site. This, Hamas and other Palestinians hope, will rally millions of Muslims behind the Palestinian struggle against Israel.
Regardless of how the current fighting between Israel and Iran’s proxies in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon turns out, it is crucial to remind everyone that Hezbollah, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad do not recognize Israel’s right to exist and regard its presence in the Middle East as a threat to all Muslims and Arabs.
Since these Islamist groups view the conflict as a religious war, any ceasefire or hudna (truce) will only serve as a reprieve or a moment of rest before they resume the jihad to destroy Israel.
Originally published by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs.
