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Hamas Spokesperson Rebukes Terror Group Leader’s Comments to New York Times Expressing Regret About Oct. 7
An aerial view shows the bodies of victims of an attack following a mass infiltration by Hamas gunmen from the Gaza Strip lying on the ground in Kibbutz Kfar Aza, in southern Israel, Oct. 10, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Ilan Rosenberg
After the head of Hamas’s foreign relations office in Qatar told the New York Times in an article published on Monday that he would not have supported the Palestinian terrorist organization’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel if he knew what kind of destruction it would bring to Gaza, a Hamas spokesperson rebuked his statement and said it does not represent the views of the Islamist group.
“If it was expected that what happened would happen, there wouldn’t have been Oct. 7,” senior Hamas official Mousa Abu Marzouk told the Times, claiming he was not privy to the exact details of the planned invasion of southern Israel.
Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists murdered 1,200 people, kidnapped 251 hostages, and perpetrated mass sexual violence against Israelis during their Oct. 7 massacre. Israel responded with a military campaign aimed at freeing the hostages and dismantling Hamas’s military and governing capabilities in neighboring Gaza.
Abu Marzouk told the Times that it would be “unacceptable” to say Hamas won the Gaza war given the level of destruction the conflict caused in the coastal enclave. According to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), about 20,000 Hamas terrorists were also killed in the war, suggesting the group lost a significant portion of its fighting force.
Referring to Israel, Abu Marzouk said, “We’re talking about a party that lost control of itself and took revenge against everything … That is not a victory under any circumstances.” However, he added, “Hamas’s survival in the war against Israel was itself a kind of victory.”
Abu Marzouk did not mention Hamas’s widely recognized military strategy of embedding its terrorists within Gaza’s civilian population and commandeering civilian facilities like hospitals, schools, and mosques to run operations and direct attacks.
Abu Marzouk’s comments marked a departure from previous statements by Hamas officials regarding the Oct. 7 attack. Less than three weeks after the onslaught, for example, Ghazi Hamad, a member of Hamas’s political bureau and a spokesman for the Iran-backed terror organization, told Lebanon’s LBC TV that the terrorist group will repeat its massacre of Israelis “again and again” to bring about the Jewish state’s “annihilation.”
Months later, Hamas’s representative in Lebanon, Ahmad Abd Al-Hadi, told Lebanon’s Annahar newspaper that the terrorist group would carry out its brutal Oct. 7 invasion of and massacre across southern Israel again if it could travel back in time.
Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem echoed such support for the Oct. 7 atrocities in a statement that was quickly put out to counter Abu Marzouk’s latest comments.
“Hamas is committed to its resistance weapon as a legitimate right, and there is no discussion about that as long as there is an occupation of our Palestinian land,” Qassem said. “The statements attributed to Mousa Abu Marzouk do not represent Hamas’s position.”
The spokesperson argued that “the occupation’s aggressive and destructive behavior is the cause of the destruction in Gaza” rather than the actions of Hamas. “The Oct 7 epic marks a strategic turning point in the Palestinian national struggle,” he added. “Dr. Abu Marzouk has emphasized that the blessed operation of Oct. 7 was an expression of our people’s right to resist and their rejection of the siege, occupation, and settlements.”
Qassem also claimed that Abu Marzouk’s comments were “incorrect and taken out of context,” with the Hamas statement taking a shot at the New York Times: “The interview was conducted a few days ago and the published statements did not reflect the full content of the answers.”
Some observers have argued that Abu Marzouk’s answers to the Times regarding the Oct. 7 attack were likely part of a public relations strategy to boost its perception in the West.
Khalil Sayegh, co-founder and president of the Agora Initiative, which aims to create “a shared vision for Palestine and Israel,” wrote on X that Hamas “is still emphasizing to the Arab world that Oct. 7 was a great victory” and that the purpose of the Times interview was “to mislead the American public to believe that Hamas regrets their decision on Oct. 7.”
“Don’t fall for Hamas’s lies,” Sayegh added.
Since the Oct. 7 attack, Hamas leaders have consistently expressed their satisfaction with the attack and their view that the terrorist group has achieved victory in the war.
After the Gaza ceasefire and hostage-release deal was reached last month, Hamas leader Khalil al-Haya said in a speech that “what occurred on Oct. 7 — a miraculous military and security achievement by the elite Qassam Brigades — will remain a source of pride for our people and resistance, passed down through generations.”
Then, on Feb. 15, at the Al Jazeera Forum in Doha, Qatar, senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan spoke about expanding the resistance against Israel. He argued that “the region’s basic tool is its ability to slap Israel whenever it wants, and do this at a high level, and we proved this on Oct. 7.”
At the same forum, Hamdan referred to “the victory in Gaza” and said that “Oct. 7, 2023, was a historic achievement and an astonishing success that gave Palestinians a sense of confidence.”
According to a report from the Wall Street Journal last year, then-Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar said he was glad about the position in which Hamas had put itself and Gaza, with no indication he regretted anything about starting the war. “We have the Israelis right where we want them,” he reportedly said.
The Journal also reported that Sinwar sent a message to Hamas leaders in Doha in which he referred to the civilians who died in Gaza as “necessary sacrifices.”
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Iranian Media Claims Obtaining ‘Sensitive’ Israeli Intelligence Materials
FILE PHOTO: The atomic symbol and the Iranian flag are seen in this illustration, July 21, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
i24 News – Iranian and Iran-affiliated media claimed on Saturday that the Islamic Republic had obtained a trove of “strategic and sensitive” Israeli intelligence materials related to Israel’s nuclear facilities and defense plans.
“Iran’s intelligence apparatus has obtained a vast quantity of strategic and sensitive information and documents belonging to the Zionist regime,” Iran’s state broadcaster said, referring to Israel in the manner accepted in those Muslim or Arab states that don’t recognize its legitimacy. The statement was also relayed by the Lebanese site Al-Mayadeen, affiliated with the Iran-backed jihadists of Hezbollah.
The reports did not include any details on the documents or how Iran had obtained them.
The intelligence reportedly included “thousands of documents related to that regime’s nuclear plans and facilities,” it added.
According to the reports, “the data haul was extracted during a covert operation and included a vast volume of materials including documents, images, and videos.”
The report comes amid high tensions over Iran’s nuclear program, over which it is in talks with the US administration of President Donald Trump.
Iranian-Israeli tensions reached an all-time high since the October 7 massacre and the subsequent Gaza war, including Iranian rocket fire on Israel and Israeli aerial raids in Iran that devastated much of the regime’s air defenses.
Israel, which regards the prospect of the antisemitic mullah regime obtaining a nuclear weapon as an existential threat, has indicated it could resort to a military strike against Iran’s installations should talks fail to curb uranium enrichment.
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Israel Retrieves Body of Thai Hostage from Gaza
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz looks on, amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, in Jerusalem, Nov. 7, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
The Israeli military has retrieved the body of a Thai hostage who had been held in Gaza since Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attack, Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Saturday.
Nattapong Pinta’s body was held by a Palestinian terrorist group called the Mujahedeen Brigades, and was recovered from the area of Rafah in southern Gaza, Katz said. His family in Thailand has been notified.
Pinta, an agricultural worker, was abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz, a small Israeli community near the Gaza border where a quarter of the population was killed or taken hostage during the Hamas attack that triggered the devastating war in Gaza.
Israel’s military said Pinta had been abducted alive and killed by his captors, who had also killed and taken to Gaza the bodies of two more Israeli-American hostages that were retrieved earlier this week.
There was no immediate comment from the Mujahedeen Brigades, who have previously denied killing their captives, or from Hamas. The Israeli military said the Brigades were still holding the body of another foreign national. Only 20 of the 55 remaining hostages are believed to still be alive.
The Mujahedeen Brigades also held and killed Israeli hostage Shiri Bibas and her two young sons, according to Israeli authorities. Their bodies were returned during a two-month ceasefire, which collapsed in March after the two sides could not agree on terms for extending it to a second phase.
Israel has since expanded its offensive across the Gaza Strip as US, Qatari and Egyptian-led efforts to secure another ceasefire have faltered.
US-BACKED AID GROUP HALTS DISTRIBUTIONS
The United Nations has warned that most of Gaza’s 2.3 million population is at risk of famine after an 11-week Israeli blockade of the enclave, with the rate of young children suffering from acute malnutrition nearly tripling.
Aid distribution was halted on Friday after the US-and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation said overcrowding had made it unsafe to continue operations. It was unclear whether aid had resumed on Saturday.
The GHF began distributing food packages in Gaza at the end of May, overseeing a new model of aid distribution which the United Nations says is neither impartial nor neutral. It says it has provided around 9 million meals so far.
The Israeli military said on Saturday that 350 trucks of humanitarian aid belonging to U.N. and other international relief groups were transferred this week via the Kerem Shalom crossing into Gaza.
The war erupted after Hamas-led terrorists took 251 hostages and killed 1,200 people, most of them civilians, in the October 7, 2023 attack, Israel’s single deadliest day.
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US Mulls Giving Millions to Controversial Gaza Aid Foundation, Sources Say
Palestinians carry aid supplies which they received from the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, in the central Gaza Strip, May 29, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ramadan Abed/File Photo
The State Department is weighing giving $500 million to the new foundation providing aid to war-shattered Gaza, according to two knowledgeable sources and two former US officials, a move that would involve the US more deeply in a controversial aid effort that has been beset by violence and chaos.
The sources and former US officials, all of whom requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, said that money for Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) would come from the US Agency for International Development (USAID), which is being folded into the US State Department.
The plan has met resistance from some US officials concerned with the deadly shootings of Palestinians near aid distribution sites and the competence of the GHF, the two sources said.
The GHF, which has been fiercely criticized by humanitarian organizations, including the United Nations, for an alleged lack of neutrality, began distributing aid last week amid warnings that most of Gaza’s 2.3 million population is at risk of famine after an 11-week Israeli aid blockade, which was lifted on May 19 when limited deliveries were allowed to resume.
The foundation has seen senior personnel quit and had to pause handouts twice this week after crowds overwhelmed its distribution hubs.
The State Department and GHF did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Reuters has been unable to establish who is currently funding the GHF operations, which began in Gaza last week. The GHF uses private US security and logistics companies to transport aid into Gaza for distribution at so-called secure distribution sites.
On Thursday, Reuters reported that a Chicago-based private equity firm, McNally Capital, has an “economic interest” in the for-profit US contractor overseeing the logistics and security of GHF’s aid distribution hubs in the enclave.
While US President Donald Trump’s administration and Israel say they don’t finance the GHF operation, both have been pressing the United Nations and international aid groups to work with it.
The US and Israel argue that aid distributed by a long-established U.N. aid network was diverted to Hamas. Hamas has denied that.
USAID has been all but dismantled. Some 80 percent of its programs have been canceled and its staff face termination as part of President Donald Trump’s drive to align US foreign policy with his “America First” agenda.
One source with knowledge of the matter and one former senior official said the proposal to give the $500 million to GHF has been championed by acting deputy USAID Administrator Ken Jackson, who has helped oversee the agency’s dismemberment.
The source said that Israel requested the funds to underwrite GHF’s operations for 180 days.
The Israeli government did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The two sources said that some US officials have concerns with the plan because of the overcrowding that has affected the aid distribution hubs run by GHF’s contractor, and violence nearby.
Those officials also want well-established non-governmental organizations experienced in running aid operations in Gaza and elsewhere to be involved in the operation if the State Department approves the funds for GHF, a position that Israel likely will oppose, the sources said.
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