Gaza City –
Group Hamas released a report confirming the October 7 attack on Israel as a “necessary step”. Hamas also admitted there were mistakes in its attacks, and emphasized that its fighters only targeted Israeli soldiers and people carrying weapons.
As reported Al Arabiya and Al JazeeraMonday (22/1/2024), the 16-page document released by Hamas on Sunday (21/1) local time was the first public report issued by the militant group in English and Arabic explaining the background of the attack.
Hamas stated in its report entitled “Our Narrative” that it wanted to “clarify” the background and dynamics of the sudden attack which they called “Al-Aqsa Flood Operation”.
Hamas, in its report, said: October 7 attack it was “a necessary step and a normal response to confront all Israeli conspiracies against the Palestinian people.”
The Hamas report also listed reasons for the attacks, citing Israel’s settlement building campaign and the “Judaization of Palestinian lands in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem”, as well as the killing of thousands of Palestinian civilians from 2000 to this year.
At the end of the Jewish holiday on October 7, 2023, hundreds of armed Hamas fighters crossed into Israel by land, air and sea from the Gaza Strip. They launched attacks that killed many Israeli civilians in the streets, homes and even at outdoor parties attended by many people.
The Hamas attack, according to Al Jazeera data, killed at least 1,139 people, mostly civilians, in Israeli territory. According to Israeli social security data, around 700 Israeli civilians and 76 foreign nationals were among the dead.
Around 250 other people, according to Tel Aviv data, were kidnapped by Hamas fighters and taken to the Gaza Strip to be held hostage. Around 100 of the hostages were freed during a brief ceasefire agreement in November last year, and according to Israeli officials, there are currently around 132 hostages in Gaza with around 27 of them believed to have been killed.
The Hamas report said the group plans to target Israeli military sites and capture soldiers, which could be used to pressure the Israeli government to release thousands of Palestinians held in prisons on its territory.
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(nvc/nvc)
2024-01-22 04:18:36
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