Hamas in its own words.

“These tunnels are meant to protect us from the airplanes.”

He was asked why Hamas had dug hundreds of kilometres of tunnels and built no shelters for civilians. He said most of Gaza's residents are refugees, and of them: “It is the responsibility of the UN to protect them.”

“The blood of the women, children and elderly [...] we are the ones who need this blood, so it awakens within us the revolutionary spirit.”

Haniyeh said this in a televised address from outside Gaza, three weeks into the war.

“These are necessary sacrifices.”

The Wall Street Journal reported that Sinwar wrote this about civilian deaths in a message to Hamas leaders in Qatar, comparing Gaza to Algeria's war of independence. Hamas denied the report.

“We must teach Israel a lesson, and we will do it twice and three times. The al-Aqsa Deluge is just the first time.”

“Al-Aqsa Deluge” is Hamas's name for the attack of 7 October. In the same interview Hamad said: “Israel is a country that has no place on our land.”

ستقوم إسرائيل وستظل قائمة إلى أن يبطلها الإسلام كما أبطل ما قبلها.

“Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it.”

The covenant is Hamas's founding charter. Its opening page carries this line and attributes it to Hassan al-Banna, the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood.

حركة المقاومة الإسلامية حركة فلسطينية متميزة، تعطي ولاءها لله، وتتخذ من الإسلام منهج حياة، وتعمل على رفع راية الله على كل شبر من فلسطين

“The Islamic Resistance Movement is a distinguished Palestinian movement, whose allegiance is to Allah, and whose way of life is Islam. It strives to raise the banner of Allah over every inch of Palestine”

The Islamic Resistance Movement is Hamas's full name. Hamas is the acronym of that name in Arabic.

تعتقد حركة المقاومة الإسلامية أن أرض فلسطين أرض وقف إسلامي على أجيال المسلمين إلى يوم القيامة، لا يصح التفريط بها أو بجزء منها أو التنازل عنها أو عن جزء منها

“The Islamic Resistance Movement believes that the land of Palestine is an Islamic Waqf consecrated for future Moslem generations until Judgement Day. It, or any part of it, should not be squandered: it, or any part of it, should not be given up.”

A waqf is a religious endowment that cannot be sold or given away. The article goes on to say that no Arab state, king, president or organisation has the right to give up any part of the land.

ولا حل للقضية الفلسطينية إلا بالجهاد، أما المبادرات والطروحات والمؤتمرات الدولية، فمضيعة للوقت، وعبث من العبث.

“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.”

Article 13 deals with peace initiatives and international conferences. It rejects them all.

يوم يَغتصب الأعداء بعض أرض المسلمين، فالجهاد فرض عين على كل مسلم. وفي مواجهة اغتصاب اليهود لفلسطين لا بد من رفع راية الجهاد

“The day that enemies usurp part of Moslem land, Jihad becomes the individual duty of every Moslem. In face of the Jews' usurpation of Palestine, it is compulsory that the banner of Jihad be raised.”

The heading of Article 15 is “The Jihad for the Liberation of Palestine is an Individual Duty”.

لا اعترافَ بشرعية الكيان الصهيوني

“There shall be no recognition of the legitimacy of the Zionist entity.”

The 2017 document is often described as a softer text than the covenant. It states that Hamas's conflict “is with the Zionist project not with the Jews because of their religion”.

لا تنازلَ عن أيّ جزء من أرض فلسطين، مهما كانت الأسباب والظروف والضغوط، ومهما طال الاحتلال. وترفض حماس أي بديلٍ عن تحرير فلسطين تحريراً كاملاً، من نهرها إلى بحرها.

“Hamas believes that no part of the land of Palestine shall be compromised or conceded, irrespective of the causes, the circumstances and the pressures and no matter how long the occupation lasts. Hamas rejects any alternative to the full and complete liberation of Palestine, from the river to the sea.”

The same paragraph goes on to say that, “without compromising its rejection of the Zionist entity”, Hamas considers a Palestinian state on the lines of 4 June 1967 “a formula of national consensus”.

إنَّ مقاومة الاحتلال، بالوسائل والأساليب كافة، حقّ مشروع كفلته الشرائع السماوية والأعراف والقوانين الدولية، وفي القلب منها المقاومة المسلحة التي تعدُّ الخيارَ الاستراتيجي لحماية الثوابت واسترداد حقوق الشعب الفلسطيني.

“Resisting the occupation with all means and methods is a legitimate right guaranteed by divine laws and by international norms and laws. At the heart of these lies armed resistance, which is regarded as the strategic choice for protecting the principles and the rights of the Palestinian people.”

Paragraph 25 comes under the heading “Resistance and Liberation”.