Hamas leaders cite the "red cows"
StatusHappened
Christians who watch the Temple question note that the red heifers are not a private religious concern of a few groups. They have been named in public by Hamas leaders as one of their grievances over al-Aqsa. The preparations for a Temple matter far beyond the groups carrying them out, which fits the central place the prophets give to Jerusalem.
Happened (the statements). In the 7 October 2023 announcement of what Hamas called the "al-Aqsa Flood", Muhammad Deif said: "The occupiers have brought their red cows to sacrifice them and sprinkle their ashes mixed with water" (in a translation published by the Oasis Center). A speech by Abu Obeida on about 14 January 2024, the 100th day of the war, again cited the red cows, as several outlets reported. This entry records what the speakers said.
Explore the counterarguments
Whether the heifers were a real motive or a piece of rhetoric cannot be settled from the statements themselves, so the entry records only that they were made. Nothing in these statements fulfils a prophecy. They show that the heifers have become politically charged, which is a fact about the present conflict, not evidence for any particular reading of the prophetic texts.