Many segments of the media decried the fact that Israel attempted a hit on Hamas leader Rantisi’s life at a time when the palestinian authority was said to be attempting to secure a truce from Hamas. Israel has repeatedly come out against a truce, saying that anything short of the full dismantling of terror groups is insufficient. Is Israel being inflexible? I think the answer lies in the definition of truce….to Hamas. Perhaps Hamas founder and spiritual leader Sheikh Yasin can answer this one….
“It is impermissible for Muslims to stop jihad as long as an Islamic territory is occupied, only in [ie except for] cases of truce with the enemy and until a sufficient force for liberation is gathered.” (Hamas leader Sheikh Yasin, in an interview in al- Muharrir (Paris), published 26 December, 1994)
“Reconciliation with the Jews is a crime … If reconciliation means a truce and a cessation of fighting for a specified period of time, Islam allows the imam [leader] of the Muslims to undertake such a reconciliation if he believes that the enemy is strong and the Muslims are weak and need time to prepare and buildup. I single out Palestine in particular, because it is a land of holy places and an Islamic religious endowment (waqf) that cannot be conceded by any ruler, president or king. Nor may any generation concede it, because it is the property of all generations of Muslims until the Day of Judgement.
As for the permitted duration of the truce, many Islamic jurists are of the opinion that it must not exceed 10 years.”(Sheikh Yasin interview in Filastin al-Muslimah (London), March 1995)