The Hamas Charter, formally known as the Covenant of the Islamic Resistance Movement, outlines the founding identity, stand, and aims of Hamas and was originally issued on August 18, 1988. The charter includes Hamas’s radical Islamic world view, which has basically not changed in the 18 years of its existence. The charter states that “There is no solution for the Palestinian problem except by Jihad”. It also states that “The stones and trees will say O Moslems, O Abdulla, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him”.
The 2017 version of the charter, issued by Hamas leader Khaled Mashal on May 1, 2017 in Doha, ncluded four departures from the 1988 charter.
1. Hamas accepted the establishment of a Palestinian state separate from Israel —although only provisionally.
2. Hamas claimed to reject the “persecution of any human being or the undermining of his or her rights on nationalist, religious or sectarian grounds”.
3. Article 7 states that “The Day of Judgment will not come about until Moslems fight Jews and kill them”.
4. Article 13 rejects any compromise, or peace, until Israel is destroyed.
* Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islamiya (Islamic Resistance Movement)