A senior Hamas official, Ghazi Hamad, has defended carrying out the deadly October 7 attacks on Israel, saying that the attack created a “golden moment” for the Palestinian cause despite the tens of thousands of deaths in Gaza that followed.

 

 

In a wide-ranging interview in Doha, two weeks after surviving an Israeli air strike on a Hamas compound, Hamad was unapologetic about the consequences for Palestinian civilians who have borne the brunt of Israel’s unrelenting attacks. He highlighted the growing international condemnation of Israel’s offensive and the spate of countries that have recently recognized Palestinian statehood.

 

 

“You know what is the benefit of October 7th now? …If you look to the [United Nations] General Assembly yesterday, when about 194 people opened their eyes and looked to the atrocity, to brutality of Israel and all of them, they condemned Israel. We waited for this moment for 77 years,” Hamad said. “I think this is a golden moment for the world to change the history.”

 

 

Hamas militants killed 1,200 people in Israel and took over 250 hostages in the October 7, 2023, attack. The ensuing Israeli retaliation has killed more than 65,000 people, according to Gaza’s health ministry, most of them women and children, leading to claims that Israel’s response has been disproportionate, even amounting to genocide.

 

 

Challenged by CNN on whether Hamas shares culpability and whether the attacks were worth the thousands of deaths in Gaza, Hamad refused to accept responsibility, asking:

 

 

“I know the price [is] so high, but I’m asking again, what is the option?” His comments came on the same day that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the October 7 attack at the UN and asserted Hamas would

 

 

Hamad refused to look at footage shown by CNN of people in Gaza voicing anger at Hamas and urging the group to give up power. He insisted that the disgruntlement was due to Israeli aggression, not Hamas’s actions, and said he knew people were suffering.

 

 

Hamas has previously responded brutally to dissent, with a 22-year-old Palestinian man reportedly tortured and killed in April after criticizing the group publicly.

 

 

The senior Hamas official also denied Israeli accusations that the group is using hostages as human shields, insisting that all remaining hostages are treated “with Islamic principles.” Hamad spoke while Israel’s assault on Gaza City was underway, with Hamas’s military wing having previously indicated that remaining hostages have been “distributed within the neighborhoods of Gaza City.”

 

 

Asked about allegations of sexual abuse against some freed hostages, Hamad insisted “there is no one proof to prove that we use these things against people.”

 

 

 

Hamad also blamed the United States, as well as Israel, for the September 9 air strike in Qatar that targeted Hamas leadership, which he survived by a “miracle.” He stated that the strike ensured ongoing ceasefire negotiations, which were reviewing a US proposal, came to a sudden halt, describing their current status as “frozen.”

 

 

Hamad added that the US cannot “prove they are honest and neutral mediators.”

 

 

Ultimately, Hamad underlined how far the group is from surrendering their arms, despite international calls to disarm. “The [armed wing] of Hamas is a legitimate and legal weapon which is used all the time against an occupation,” he said, asserting: “We will never surrender. We will never surrender.”