DaysofPal- The Hamas movement strongly condemned recent statements by U.S. Republican Congressman Randy Fine, in which he called for the use of nuclear weapons against the Gaza Strip. Hamas denounced the remarks as “a full-fledged crime and evidence of the fascist racism that governs the thinking of some American politicians.”
In a statement released Friday, Hamas described Fine’s comments as “hateful speech and incitement to genocide,” urging condemnation from the U.S. administration and Congress.
The movement added that such rhetoric reflects how Congress “became a platform to justify and encourage the crimes of the occupation when it received the war criminal Benjamin Netanyahu.”
Hamas emphasized that Fine’s remarks “represent a flagrant violation of the principles of international humanitarian law and the Geneva Conventions and openly incite the use of weapons of mass destruction against more than two million civilians.”
Despite these “brutal calls,” the group stressed, “They will not weaken the determination of our people or their belief in the justice of their cause, but expose once again the true face of the occupation and its supporters.”
Congressman Randy Fine, a Republican from Florida, sparked outrage earlier this week after advocating for a nuclear strike on Gaza in retaliation for the reported killing of two Israeli embassy employees in Washington. Speaking in an interview on Fox News and reiterating his stance on social media, Fine, who identified himself as a “proud Zionist Jew,” stated:
“We did not negotiate a surrender with the Japanese; we bombed them with nuclear weapons twice to obtain unconditional surrender. We must do the same here. America and Israel will never disagree on the extermination of the Palestinians.”
Fine’s comments are part of a troubling trend of incendiary rhetoric. He is not the first U.S. official to suggest using nuclear weapons in Gaza. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham previously drew comparisons between Israel’s military actions in Gaza and the U.S. decision to bomb Hiroshima and Nagasaki in World War II.
“When we faced devastation as a nation after the Pearl Harbor attack and fought the Germans and the Japanese, we decided to end the war by nuking Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and that was the right decision,” Graham said.
Similar sentiments have also emerged within Israel’s political leadership. Amichai Eliyahu, Israel’s Minister of Jerusalem Affairs and Heritage, had publicly suggested last year that Israel should consider dropping a nuclear bomb on Gaza.
The Islamic Jihad movement also condemned the statements, describing them as “an explicit call to commit crimes against humanity, a terrifying reminder of fascism, and a stain on the forehead of the U.S. Congress, which applauded the arrogance of the war criminal Netanyahu.”
In its statement, Islamic Jihad asserted that such declarations “contradict the principles of international humanitarian law, the Geneva Conventions, and conventions that prohibit the use of nuclear weapons against civilians.”
The group reaffirmed that these threats “will not shake our faith in the justice of our cause, which has dropped many masks from the ugly faces, or undermine the steadfastness of our people.”
The remarks come amid an ongoing Israeli military campaign in Gaza, which began on October 7, 2023. Backed by the United States, the assault has resulted in a genocidal war. According to health authorities in Gaza, more than 176,000 Palestinians have been killed or wounded, the majority of whom are women and children. Over 11,000 remain missing, and hundreds of thousands have been displaced.
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