Hamas remains unapologetic about its October 7 attacks, terror group official Ghazi Hamad told CNN in a report published Friday.
Hamad, a member of the terrorist organization’s political bureau, survived an Israeli strike earlier this month in Doha.
The attacks on October 7 in Israel killed nearly 1,200 people, and more than 250 were taken hostage, in an event Hamad said the terror organization has no regrets about, despite the consequences for the Gaza Strip.
Hamad falsely stated in the CNN interview that the terror organization only attacked military targets and that it “never intended to kidnap civilians.” He added that the “Palestinian cause” has benefited from October 7, citing in the interview more international support in Palestinian state recognition and further worldwide condemnations of Israeli actions.
“You know what the benefit of October 7 is now? If you look at the [United Nations] General Assembly yesterday, about 194 members opened their eyes to the atrocity and brutality of Israel, and they condemned Israel,” CNN quoted him as saying. “We waited for this moment for 77 years.”
Another Hamas official, Osama Hamdan, also said that some countries’ recent recognition of a Palestinian state is the result of Hamas’s October 7 attacks in an interview with Al Mayadeen.
Hamad: No regrets for Palestinian civilian suffering in Gaza
When asked by CNN if Hamad had any remorse for Palestinian civilian life lost in Gaza, Hamad made no apologies. The report also previously quoted Hamad as saying Palestinians “are proud to sacrifice martyrs.”
CNN also showed Hamad footage of Gazan civilians condemning the terrorist organization, the US news organization reported, noting that Hamad “refused to look at the footage for more than a few seconds, pushing the iPad away.”
When asked about the hostages by CNN, and whether they were being used as human shields dispersed throughout Gaza City amid the IDF incursion into the area, Hamad denied the claims and said they are being treated “with Islamic principles.”
Hamad then described talks with US President Donald Trump to end the Gaza war as “frozen,” the report added, despite Trump saying that talks with Middle Eastern players on Gaza were productive.
Hamad claimed that there have been no negotiations with the US leader since the strike on Qatar, accusing Trump of giving “the green light” for Israel’s attempted assassination of him. The CNN report continued, adding that Hamad claimed his actions had caused US negotiators involved in the ceasefire mediation to “lose their credibility.”