You know the Hadith we have that the trees and the rocks will talk and say "O Muslim, O slave of Allah, there is a Jew hiding behind me etc..."
Yeah, and that hadeeth seems very ... Wrong to me. It doesn't say anything about certain Jews fighting against Al-Mahdi. It just says that trees will tell us to kill Jews, which seems grossly Antisemitic and unacceptable. Hamas uses this Hadeeth to justify killing anti Zionist Jews, which I think is immoral and very wrong.
Is this Hadeeth even authentic? And is there a context behind it?
I do not know of its authenticity, but the point being that Muslim-Jewish relations will be at their worse.
Secondly, this is the end of times, a time of miracles and unbelievable events, we cannot possibly reject it for sounding strange.
Thirdly, the Jews mentioned here are not necessarily every regular Jew, rather those stubborn ones who lasted until the final days and decided to fight against the Muslims even after the clear arguments and signs have been realized.
Fourthly, singling out the Jews in that narration shows that God would not be pleased at all with them at that time, possibly because of horrible things they did and God does not do injustice, so if He decides to decimate all of them as he destroyed other nations before them is this not His own judgement and decision?
I add, Jews being in the hell-fire on judgement day also sounds anti-Semitic don't it? Truth is, it's not about anti-semitism rather about submission to God and having correct beliefs and heeding God's warning and accepting his guidance and all disbelievers shall be judged equally whether Jews or Hindus.
As for those who did not receive correct guidance or no guidance at all, Allah shall judge in his infinite mercy:
{And never would We punish until We sent a messenger.}
{Paradise is not [obtained] by your wishful thinking nor by that of the People of the Scripture. Whoever does a wrong will be recompensed for it, and he will not find besides Allah a protector or a helper. - And whoever does righteous deeds, whether male or female, while being a believer - those will enter Paradise and will not be wronged, [even as much as] the speck on a date seed.}
As for killing disbelievers whether Kitaabi or not, this is not allowed unless for self-defense, Hamaas just like any group has fanatics who don't understand the religion.