A senior political official in the Palestinian Hamas terror organization told Lebanese television last week that the group intends to repeat its October 7 terror attack until Israel is annihilated.
The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) translated the interview. In it, Hamas political official Ghazi Hamad says that attacks on Israeli civilians are justified; that the cost in terms of Palestinian “martyrs” is worth the ultimate goal of ending Israel; and that Hamas will continue to mount such attacks.
MEMRI noted (emphasis omitted):
Ghazi Hamad of the Hamas political bureau said in an October 24, 2023 show on LBC TV (Lebanon) that Hamas is prepared to repeat the October 7 “Al-Aqsa Flood” Operation time and again until Israel is annihilated. He added that Palestinians are willing to pay the price and that they are “proud to sacrifice martyrs.” Hamad said that Palestinians are the victims of the occupation, therefore no one should blame them for the events of October 7 or anything else, adding: “Everything we do is justified.”
…
“We must teach Israel a lesson, and we will do this again and again. The Al-Aqsa Flood is just the first time, and there will be a second, a third, a fourth, because we have the determination, the resolve, and the capabilities to fight. Will we have to pay a price? Yes, and we are ready to pay it. We are called a nation of martyrs, and we are proud to sacrifice martyrs.
…
“The existence of Israel is illogical. The existence of Israel is what causes all that pain, blood, and tears. It is Israel, not us. We are the victims of the occupation. Period. Therefore, nobody should blame us for the things we do. On October 7, October 10, October 1,000,000 – everything we do is justified.”
Ghazi claimed that Hamas did not intend to harm civilians, but said “complications” caused Hamas to murder civilians, including 260 people at a music festival.
Overall, roughly three-fourths of the estimated 1,200 people killed by Hamas on October 7 were civilians.
Pro-Palestinian groups in the West, such as Students for Justice in Palestine, supported the Hamas attacks because they, too, share the vision of destroying Israel. As the Students for Justice in Palestine talking points claimed: “This action of resistance shatters the illusion of Israel as an impenetrable, indestructible entity. … Settlers are already fleeing the land, their ‘dedication’ to the settler colony is easily broken.”
In reality, the opposite was true: many Israelis came home to join the military or to volunteer.
Editor’s Note: This story was updated to reflect a revised number on the death toll from the October 7 Hamas attack in Israel. The Israeli government estimate of 1,400 was revised to around 1,200, according to Reuters.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the new biography, Rhoda: ‘Comrade Kadalie, You Are Out of Order’. He is also the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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