Hamas says in a document released Sunday that its October 7 attack on Israel was “a necessary step” but acknowledges that the “chaos” led to “mistakes.” The terrorist movement, in power in Gaza since 2007, calls for an end to “Israeli aggression”, affirms that the “Palestinian people” can “decide on the future” of the coastal territory and rejects “international or Israeli projects”.
In this document of nearly 20 pages, the first of its kind, Hamas says it wants to deliver “its version of the facts”. While its October 7 attack against Israel resulted in the death of 1,140 people, the majority civilians, according to an AFP count based on official Israeli figures, Hamas insists on the fact that it “did its best to avoid harming civilians.
250 people taken hostage
“Mistakes may have been made during the implementation of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, due to the sudden collapse of the security and military apparatus along the border between Israel and the Gaza Strip”, assures Hamas. “Avoiding harm to civilians, especially children, women and the elderly, is a religious and moral obligation of the fighters of the al-Qassam brigades,” he continues, mentioning its armed wing.
Investigations are underway in Israel after reports of sexual violence. On October 7, around 250 people were taken hostage during these attacks, unprecedented in their violence and scale, and, according to Israel, 132 people remain captive in the strip of land – 27 of whom died, again according to a count of AFP based on official Israeli figures.
25,000 Palestinians killed according to Hamas
Since then, more than 25,000 Palestinians, the vast majority women, children and adolescents, have been killed in the Gaza Strip by Israeli bombings and military operations, according to the Hamas Ministry of Health. In its report, the terrorist movement also calls for “an immediate end to Israeli aggression on Gaza, killings and ethnic cleansing committed against the entire population of Gaza.”
As for the future of the territory, Hamas says it “categorically rejects any international or Israeli project aimed at deciding the future of the Gaza Strip”, and emphasizes that “the Palestinian people have the capacity to decide on their future and ‘organize their internal affairs’ by insisting that ‘no one in the world’ had the right to decide for them.