Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh gestures as he delivers a speech in Gaza City, Jan. 23, 2018. Photo: Reuters / Mohammed Salem.

JNS.org – After a senior Hamas official gave an impassioned speech on Friday calling for Palestinians to slaughter Jews around the world, the terrorist organization issued a statement distancing itself from the statements, saying they “don’t represent the movement’s official positions,” and that its conflict is with Israel and “not the Jews or their religion.”

“All of you 7 million Palestinians abroad, enough of the warming up,” Fathi Hammad told rioters at the Gaza-Israel border on Friday, in a speech broadcast on Hamas-run Al-Aqsa TV. “You have Jews everywhere and we must attack every Jew on the globe by way of slaughter and killing, if God permits.”

“O, the people of the West Bank, until when will you be quiet?” he said. “We want knives to come out. Five shekels. How much does the neck of a Jew cost? Five shekels or less?”

“We will die while exploding and cutting the necks and legs of the Jews,” he enthused. “We will lacerate them and tear them to pieces, Allah willing!”

The remarks, which were brought to light by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), an organization which monitors Arab media, were rejected by Hamas, which posted a statement to the effect on its website.

“These statements do not represent the movement’s official positions and consistent, adopted policies that stipulate that our conflict is with the occupation, which is occupying our land and sullying our holy sites, and not with Jews around the world or with Judaism as a religion,” the statement said.

Hammad ultimately walked back his statement, posting his support for “Hamas’s consistent, adopted policy of limiting its resistance to the Zionist occupation that usurps Palestine’s land and defiles its holy sites” to the Hamas website.

Secretary-General of the Palestine Liberation Organization Executive Committee Saeb Erekat also tweeted Monday that “the just values of the Palestinian cause include love for freedom, justice and equality. The repugnant statement of Hamas leader Mr. Fathi Hammad about Jews doesn’t represent any of them.”

“Religion shouldn’t be used for political purposes,” he said.

In an interview with The Times of Israel, Erekat said Hammad’s statements made him want “to vomit.”