Hamas instructed its spokesmen to conceal the group’s true ideology from Western audiences, according to a newly published intelligence analysis based on internal Arabic-only documents recovered during the Gaza war — a strategy that contrasts sharply with senior terrorist leaders’ past public rhetoric openly hostile to both Israel and the Christian West.
The findings were published Sunday by the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center (ITIC), which reviewed books, speeches, and internal guidance documents recovered during the war in Gaza and attributed to Hamas and its leadership.
At the center of the report is Dr. Mahmoud al-Zahar, a founding member of Hamas and longtime senior spokesman, who has styled himself internally as the group’s “expert on Jewish affairs.”
The Hamas co-founder has directly threatened President Donald Trump, warning in 2017 that once Hamas had “liberated Palestine in its entirety,” the group would shut down the U.S. embassy and deport Americans, while claiming the United States would suffer as Islam expanded globally. He also portrayed American culture as inherently violent and immoral, mocking U.S. society and accusing Washington of serving Jewish interests. In an earlier statement, he argued that Muslims should build a mosque near Ground Zero as a symbol of global Islamic unity.
Prior to the Gaza war, al-Zahar openly acknowledged the fight against Israel is only one stage in a broader religious struggle, citing Islamic tradition to argue that a future global Islamic order would eliminate both “Zionism” and what he called “treacherous Christianity.” That worldview is consistent with Hamas’s original charter, which claims that “peace and quiet” for Jews and Christians is possible only “under the wing of Islam” and repeatedly invokes the Koran and other Islamic texts.
The new report shows that such rhetoric is part of a deeper ideological framework deliberately concealed from Western audiences. In Arabic-language writings circulated inside Gaza — but never intended for foreign consumption — al-Zahar openly promotes classic antisemitic conspiracy theories, blood libels, and even justifications for the Holocaust, according to the study.
By contrast, Hamas’ outward-facing messaging tells a different story.
Captured Hamas training materials explicitly instruct spokesmen to avoid references to Jews, antisemitism, or the Holocaust when addressing Western audiences, urging them instead to substitute phrases like “Zionist occupier” and to avoid language that might alienate Europe or the United States.
The report describes this as a deliberate strategy of deception, designed to sanitize Hamas’ image abroad while maintaining genocidal ideology at home.
One internal Hamas guide warns that using antisemitic language or references to Nazi crimes damages the movement’s image and undermines its standing with Western audiences.
Al-Zahar’s 2020 book, Hatred of the Jews – A Historical Legacy, found by Israeli forces during combat operations, lays out the unfiltered worldview. It portrays Jews as inherently evil, greedy, and treacherous; repeats claims drawn from The Protocols of the Elders of Zion; and argues that Jewish suffering throughout history — including under Nazi Germany — was self-inflicted or justified.
According to the analysis, this dehumanizing doctrine helped inspire the brutality of Hamas’ October 7, 2023, terrorist massacre in southern Israel, an attack that targeted civilians and sparked the war in Gaza.
The report underscores that Hamas’ English-language messaging reflects strategic marketing rather than ideological moderation, with the group’s internal Arabic-language writings exposing beliefs deliberately concealed from Western audiences — rooted in radical Islamic extremism, antisemitism, hostility toward the Christian West, and the declared goal of destroying Israel.
Earlier this year, another internal memo recovered by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and analyzed by ITIC, exposed Hamas’s fear of losing young fighters and its efforts to force Palestinians to remain trapped in Gaza, even as many desperately sought to leave.
The document revealed the terror group’s desperate attempts to prevent Palestinian emigration, with Hamas serving as the biggest barrier to Gazans seeking a better life, as President Donald Trump proposed relocating Gazans to safer, more stable countries.
Joshua Klein is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @JoshuaKlein.
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