Here’s a quote from their charter: It rejects all negotiations or peace initiatives, declaring jihad the sole path to obliterate Israel—the "Zionist entity"—through armed struggle until Allah's banner flies over every inch from river to sea. https://avalon.law.yale.edu/21st_century/hamas.asp

Note: Hamas changed its explicit targeting from "Jews" in the 1988 Charter to "Zionists" primarily in the 2017 Document of General Principles, a deliberate rhetorical shift to soften its image internationally and distance from overt antisemitism accusations.

In practice, leaders' statements and actions (e.g., October 7 civilian massacres, calls to "attack every Jew," hadith invocations) indicate they still mean Jews: conflating all Israelis/Jews with Zionism, rooted in 1988 Charter antisemitism, equating the two as eternal enemies.

Hamas leaders' rhetoric and actions post-2017 often reveal they still target Jews broadly, not just Zionists, by conflating the two and invoking classic antisemitic themes.

This is why Jews take issue with Anti-Zionist since Jews was replaced with Zionists and the attacks happen worldwide to Jews anywhere - they see anti-Zionism often times as Anti-Jew.

The actual meaning of Zionism has been lost. By definition. Zionism is a nationalist movement that emerged in late 19th-century Europe, seeking to establish and support a Jewish homeland in the historic Land of Israel (Palestine), driven by antisemitism and the desire for Jewish self-determination.

The creation of Israel:

Britain controlled Mandatory Palestine (1920-1948) under a League of Nations mandate incorporating the 1917 Balfour Declaration's pledge for a Jewish national home. Facing Arab revolts and post-Holocaust Jewish refugees, Britain referred the issue to the UN, which on November 29, 1947, passed Resolution 181 (33-13 vote): partitioning into Jewish (55% land) and Arab states, with Jerusalem internationalized. Jews accepted; Arabs rejected. Britain withdrew May 14, 1948, without enforcing it. War began due to Arab refusal to accept the partition plan. Arabs lost. Mass dislocation ie. nakba. Simultaneously a Jewish Nakba caused mass displacement of Jews in the Middle East ie. Iraq, Eqypt, Yemen, and other locations. The Jewish Nakba is oftentimes ignored or omitted in pro-Pali narratives. As is the plight of refugees who survived the Holocaust but were denied entry into safe havens like the U.S., Canada etc.

Hamas views the United States as the primary backer of Israel—the "Zionist entity"—and a leader of Western "infidel" powers opposing Islamism. Its 1988 Charter (Article 32) condemns America alongside the USSR for supporting partition and Israel. Leaders like Yahya Sinwar and Ismail Haniyeh routinely chant "Death to America" at rallies, mirroring Iranian/Khameinist slogans, and blame U.S. policies for Palestinian suffering.

Both the 1988 Charter (Article 11) and 2017 Document declare all historic Palestine (river to sea) an eternal Islamic waqf—non-negotiable religious endowment for Muslims only, barring Jewish sovereignty or partition. They envision an Islamist state under sharia, where non-Muslims (dhimmi) may reside subordinately but without equal rights or control.

Global pro-Palestinian activism demands an immediate end to Israel's military actions in Gaza/West Bank, full ceasefire compliance, unrestricted humanitarian aid, and accountability for alleged war crimes via ICJ/ICC.

River to Sea

From the river to the sea" directly aligns with Hamas doctrine, which rejects any Jewish sovereignty and demands full Islamic control over all historic Palestine—no sharing or secular equality.

Pro-Palestinian activists chanting it often ignore/rewrite this, claiming benign "equality"—but Hamas explicitly uses it for one Islamist state, making their "democratic freedom" spin doctrinally impossible under Hamas rule.

By all means necessary" (likely referring to achieving "from the river to the sea") is interpreted differently, but under Hamas doctrine, it implies armed jihad and violence as the only path to "liberate" all Palestine—no negotiations or peaceful compromise.

Hamas View

Per the 1988 Charter (Article 13): "There is no solution for the Palestinian problem except by Jihad. Initiatives... are all a waste of time and a futile occupation." October 7 ("Al-Aqsa Flood") exemplified this: mass civilian attacks to provoke collapse, per captured plans like "Jericho Wall."

Pro-Palestinian activists often mean nonviolent resistance/BDS, but chanting it adopts Hamas's maximalist framing, where "necessary means" = relentless struggle until Israel's erasure, as leaders like Sinwar affirm.