JNS.org – If the Gaza-based terrorist group Hamas manages to establish a foothold in the West Bank, it would be able to wipe out Israel and establish an Islamic state in its place, senior Hamas official Mahmoud al-Zahar recently told the Palestinian news outlet Al-Ayyam.

“[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,” al-Zahar said in a translated interview posted by Palestinian Media Watch on Sunday.

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According to al-Zahar, if Hamas could “transfer what it has or just a small part of it to the West Bank,” it “would be able to settle the battle of the final promise with a speed that no one can imagine.”

In August, Israel’s Shin Bet security agency revealed its uncovering of a Hamas plot to topple the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank.