If there were any questions about Hamas’s desire for peace with Israel, a senior Hamas official gave more reason for skepticism. Mahmoud al-Zahar, the terrorist organization’s co-founder and political bureau member, assured Al-Ayyam newspaper on October 1 that his group wants to seize the West Bank and then destroy Israel.

Speaking to the Ramallah-based Palestinian newspaper at a ceremony honoring policemen killed by the Israeli military, Zahar explained: “[Some] have said Hamas wants to create an Islamic emirate in Gaza. We won’t do that, but we will build an Islamic state in Palestine, all of Palestine.”

To those who doubt Hamas’s capabilities, Zahar bragged, “We know exactly how to liberate the land of Palestine, and we know how to hit every inch of Palestine with our hands, brains and money.”

He also explained the strategy: If Hamas were to “transfer what it has or just a small part of it to the West Bank, we would be able to settle the battle of the final promise with a speed that no one can imagine.”

In Gaza, Hamas has a government, military bases from which it can launch missiles at Israel (as it did during Operation Protective Edge), and a thriving hotbed for rabid anti-Semitism and terrorism. Hamas also enjoys majority support in Gaza, and that support has been swelling in the Palestinian Authority-controlled West Bank. According to an opinion poll by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, 57 percent of the West Bank supports Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, compared to 33 percent who supports Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. An August report from Israel’s internal security agency, Shin Bet, revealed that while Hamas was fighting Israel from the Gaza Strip, it was simultaneously planning an elaborate and violent takeover of the West Bank, as our Trumpet Daily video analyzed.

Palestinian Media Watch explained that “the final promise” Mahmoud al-Zahar mentioned is a reference to a Koranic passage about Jerusalem and total destruction.

In an October 5 interview with cnn, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, “As long as Hamas remains committed to our destruction, what’s there to negotiate with? The method of my suicide or what? … There’s nothing to discuss.”

At the United Nations General Assembly on September 29, Netanyahu likened Hamas to the Islamic State. Yet the United States (and much of the world) maintains a more tolerant characterization of Hamas.

The longer the leash on Hamas extends, the more vulnerable Israel becomes.

Bible prophecy explains where this trend is leading. As Trumpet executive editor Stephen Flurry explained in his Trumpet Daily video, “Zechariah prophesies of a violent takeover of half of Jerusalem led by the Palestinians, which is why it is likely that Hamas will eventually grab hold of the West Bank. Its leadership there will most likely be needed to orchestrate an attempt of the takeover of East Jerusalem.”

To understand the significance of this prophecy in Zechariah 14:1-5, read Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry’s article “Jerusalem: About to Explode.”