“Are you going to apologize?”
TV presenter confronts Hamas leader
October 21, 2023, 8:00 p.m
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Hamas terrorists murder and kidnap hundreds of civilians in their major attack on Israel. In an interview, Egyptian journalist Rasha Nabil confronts Hamas leader Khalid Mashaal with the atrocities and the resulting consequences.
A critical interview by the Arabic broadcaster Al-Arabija with a Hamas leader after the terrorist group’s massacre in Israel is attracting attention on the Internet. A station presenter doubts Hamas member Khalid Mashaal’s argument that the major attack was part of the Palestinians’ “legitimate resistance.”
“How can one demand that the West and the world in general support the Palestinian cause while the things Hamas has done to Israeli civilians are making headlines?” asks Egyptian Rasha Nabil in the interview broadcast on Thursday. Hamas is now being compared to ISIS. “Is it part of Hamas’ ideology to treat civilians like this?”.
Mashaal claims that the Islamist organization ruling in the Gaza Strip is concentrating its resistance on soldiers. “But in all wars there are some civilian casualties. We are not responsible for them.” The moderator counters: “Will you apologize for what was done to Israeli civilians on October 7?”. According to the Israeli army, of the 1,400 dead in Israel, a good 300 are soldiers – the majority are civilians. “An apology should be demanded from Israel,” Mashaal replied to the question. “Hamas does not kill civilians intentionally, the focus is on the soldiers.”
“Sitting in an air-conditioned room and talking about war”
From the moderator’s point of view, the type of Hamas attack resembles a declaration of war. “So some people are wondering, what would you have expected from the Israeli response?”. The people in the Gaza Strip, among others, who are now experiencing a “great human tragedy,” were not consulted about the attacks, she accuses Mashaal. Like many Hamas leaders, he lives abroad.
The Egyptian is also critical of the possible opening of another front in Israel with the pro-Iranian Hezbollah militia. The situation of the people in the country is already bad and the last thing they need is a war. “They say to themselves: Khalid Mashaal sits in an air-conditioned room and talks about war, jihad and bombings.”