FILE- Mike Huckabee, U.S. ambassador to Israel, places a note in the cracks of the Western Wall in the old city of Jerusalem. AFP
In a statement, Hamas said Huckabee's comments “represent a clear embodiment of the colonial mindset upon which the Zionist movement was founded and expose the blatant American bias toward projects of hegemony and annexation, in flagrant violation of international law and the UN Charter, and in disregard for the sovereignty of the region’s states and the rights of their peoples.”
The statement came in response to comments made by Huckabee in a US podcast released Friday, in which he claimed Israel has a biblical right to take over the entire Middle East, or at least a significant portion of it.
Hamas’ statement responded to Huckabee’s remarks in a US podcast released Friday, where he claimed Israel has a biblical right to take over the entire Middle East, or at least a significant portion of it.
“It would be fine if they took it all,” Huckabee said in an interview with conservative commentator Tucker Carlson, referring to the land “from the Wadi of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates.”
“Such support by the US ambassador for the geographical expansion of the Zionist entity and its occupation of Arab and Islamic lands ‘from the Nile to the Euphrates’ constitutes a direct threat to Arab and Islamic national security,” the statement said.
“It is a warning bell confirming that the Zionist project does not target Palestine alone, but threatens the geography, identity, and stability of the entire region,” it added.
Hamas emphasized that “the Palestinian people will continue to uphold their inalienable national rights, including their right to their land, holy sites, and self-determination. These statements do not grant legitimacy to the occupation and will not change the historical and legal facts affirming the occupation’s illegitimacy and eventual end.”
The group called on Arab and Islamic leaders “to adopt firm positions that go beyond condemnation, to work toward isolating the occupation and confronting its schemes that violate land and holy sites.”
It also urged the international community “to condemn this extremist rhetoric, stand against the occupation, and take serious action to hold it accountable for its crimes.”
Huckabee’s remarks sparked widespread anger across Arab and Islamic countries, with critics describing them as dangerous, inflammatory, and in violation of international law.
In a joint statement issued Sunday, the foreign ministries of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Indonesia, Pakistan, Turkey, Syria, Palestine, Kuwait, Lebanon, and Oman, along with the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the Arab League and the Gulf Cooperation Council, expressed “strong condemnation and profound concern” over the ambassador’s comments.
“The comments were dangerous and inflammatory and constituted a flagrant violation of international law and the UN Charter,” the statement said, warning that they pose a serious threat to regional security and stability.
Huckabee, an evangelical Christian who once described himself as an “unapologetic, unreformed Zionist,” has long opposed the establishment of a Palestinian state. He has consistently defended illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, denying the existence of an occupation and rejecting the use of the terms “Palestinians” or the “West Bank.”
Since its establishment in 1948 and the division of Palestine, Israel has not had fully recognized borders. Its frontiers with Arab neighbours have continuously shifted as a result of wars, annexations, and occupations.
Israel today maintains a sprawling and illegal occupation of land across the region, including the West Bank, East Jerusalem, vast parts of the Gaza Strip, the Golan Heights, along with areas of southern Syria, the Shebaa Farms, and sections of southern Lebanon, enforcing military control, expanding settlements, and asserting administrative dominance, seizing territory from its neighbours in direct defiance of international law and United Nations resolutions.
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