Khaled Meshaal was head of Hamas for over ten years. He sees the willingness to fight of the radical Islamic Palestinian organization as unbroken.
Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal, who lives in exile, sees the radical Islamic Palestinian organization’s willingness to fight as unbroken even a year after the start of the Gaza war. The group suffered heavy losses. But it continues to recruit fighters, produce weapons and will rise “like a phoenix from the ashes,” said Meshaal in an interview with the Reuters news agency.
Hamas is still capable of fighting and can plan ambushes against Israeli troops. “We have lost some of our ammunition and weapons, but Hamas is still recruiting young men and continues to produce a large part of its ammunition and weapons,” said Meshaal, who holds a senior position under top Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. He did not give any details. “Palestinian history is made up of cycles,” explained the 68-year-old. “We go through phases in which we lose martyrs and lose some of our military capabilities, but then the Palestinian spirit rises again, like the phoenix.” He sees no prospects for peace as long as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government is in Israel of power. Israel, on the other hand, blames Hamas, whose founding charter calls for the destruction of Israel, for the failure of peace efforts.
Diplomatic face of Hamas
Meshaal, who survived an Israeli poison attack in 1997, was Hamas’ top leader from 1996 to 2017. He remains influential within Hamas and is now widely seen as its diplomatic face. He is one of six Hamas leaders against whom the U.S. Justice Department has filed terrorism charges over the Oct. 7 attack on Israel that sparked the Gaza war.
Middle East experts see Meshaal’s comments as a sign that Hamas will continue to fight regardless of losses. It could also benefit from the fact that Israel has not yet presented a plan for the future of the Gaza Strip after the war ends, said Joost Hiltermann from the International Crisis Group think tank. This could allow Hamas to re-establish itself, although perhaps not with the same strength or in the same form as before. (APA/Reuters)
