A funeral for a Muslim Brotherhood leader in Egypt. Photo: Screenshot.

The Muslim Brotherhood condemned an Egyptian court decision to designate Hamas as a terrorist organization, and called for the destruction of the Jewish State, according to an Investigative Project on Terrorism (IPT) translation of a Brotherhood statement released on its Arabic website.

“The Zionist entity will continue to be its historic enemy until the complete liberation of the land. We will soon celebrate, if God wills, the collapse of this coup and the return of Egypt to its role in protecting the Arab national security,” reads the Brotherhood statement.

The “complete liberation of the land” in this context directly refers to Israel’s destruction.

The declaration also expressed support for Hamas as the main “legitimate organization” of the Palestinian people.

The Palestinian terrorist group is an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, which was also declared as a terrorist organization in Egypt as part of a systematic campaign against radical Islamism.

Another Muslim Brotherhood statement, translated by the IPT, refers to Hamas as “the honor of the Umma [global Muslim community]”, glorifies Hamas terrorist attacks against Israel, and calls for continued resistance against the Egyptian regime.

“[The Egyptian court ruling] places little value on the Resistance against practices of the Zionist enemy, and sacrifices it puts forth, exerting life and treasure to liberate al Aqsa, the Holy Places and all occupied Palestinian territory. Thus, we refuse to recognize the rulings of the judges of the military coup and all their ludicrous rulings, stressing that we will continue to besiege the military coup until it topples, considering it part of the Zionist project…,” reads the Brotherhood statement.

In January, an Egyptian court labeled Hamas’ military wing a terrorist organization. However, judicial sources reveal that Saturday’s ruling encompasses the entire organization, Reuters reports.

Hamas, a designated terrorist organization in the U.S., Canada, and other countries, actively targets and attacks innocent Israelis and is committed to the annihilation of the Jewish state.

Moreover, Yusuf Qaradawi, the spiritual head of the global Muslim Brotherhood also condemned the Egyptian court ruling, according to an IPT translation of an al-Masry al-Youm report.

“Yesterday was the criminalization of Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades; today is the criminalization of the Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas and describing it as terrorist,” Qaradawi said on his Twitter page.

Qaradawi continues to incite against the ruling Egyptian regime and Israel from his base in Qatar. The Brotherhood leader has previously called for Muslims to unite in armed struggle against Jews and Israel. Similarly, Qaradawi issued a fatwa, or religious ruling, approving suicide attacks against U.S. forces in Iraq and declaring those who mount them as martyrs.

Steven Emerson is the Executive Director the Investigative Project on Terrorism (www.investigativeproject.org) where this article first appeared.