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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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UK, France, Germany Urge Gaza Ceasefire, Ask Israel to Restore Humanitarian Access
People walk among destroyed buildings in Gaza, as viewed from the Israel-Gaza border, March 20, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Amir Cohen/File Photo
The governments of Germany, France and Britain called for an immediate return to a ceasefire in Gaza in a joint statement on Friday that also called on Israel to restore humanitarian access.
“We call on Israel to restore humanitarian access, including water and electricity, and ensure access to medical care and temporary medical evacuations in accordance with international humanitarian law,” the foreign ministers of the three countries, known as the E3, said in a statement.
The ministers said they were “appalled by the civilian casualties,” and also called on Palestinian Hamas terrorists to release Israeli hostages.
They said the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians could not be resolved through military means, and that a long-lasting ceasefire was the only credible pathway to peace.
The ministers added that they were “deeply shocked” by the incident that affected the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) building in Gaza, and called for an investigation into the incident.
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Israeli Military Says It Intercepted Missile Fired from Yemen; Houthis Claim Responsibility
FILE PHOTO: Houthi military helicopter flies over the Galaxy Leader cargo ship in the Red Sea in this photo released November 20, 2023. Photo: Houthi Military Media/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo
The Israeli military said it intercepted a missile fired from Yemen on Friday, one day after shooting down two projectiles launched by Houthi terrorists.
Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis claimed responsibility for the attack, saying that it fired a ballistic missile toward Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv, the group’s military spokesperson, Yahya Saree, said in a televised statement in the early hours of Saturday.
Saree said the attack against Israel was the group’s third in 48 hours.
He issued a warning to airlines that the Israeli airport was “no longer safe for air travel and would continue to be so until the Israeli aggression against Gaza ends and the blockade is lifted.”
However, the airport’s website seemed to be operating normally and showed a list of scheduled flights.
The group’s military spokesman has also said without providing evidence that the Houthis had launched attacks against the US aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman in the Red Sea.
The group recently vowed to escalate attacks, including those targeting Israel, in response to US strikes earlier this month, which amount to the biggest US military operation in the Middle East since President Donald Trump took office in January. The US attacks have killed at least 50 people.
The Houthis’ fresh attacks come under a pledge to expand their range of targets in Israel in retaliation for renewed Israeli strikes in Gaza that have killed hundreds after weeks of relative calm.
The Houthis have carried out over 100 attacks on shipping since Israel’s war with Hamas began in late 2023, saying they were acting in solidarity with Gaza’s Palestinians.
The attacks have disrupted global commerce and prompted the US military to launch a costly campaign to intercept missiles.
The Houthis are part of what has been dubbed the “Axis of Resistance” – an anti-Israel and anti-Western alliance of regional militias including Hamas, Lebanon’s Hezbollah and armed groups in Iraq, all backed by Iran.
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Columbia University Agrees to Some Trump Demands in Attempt to Restore Funding
A pro-Palestine protester holds a sign that reads: “Faculty for justice in Palestine” during a protest urging Columbia University to cut ties with Israel. November 15, 2023 in New York City. Photo: Sipa USA via Reuters Connect
Columbia University agreed to some changes demanded by US President Donald Trump’s administration before it can negotiate to regain federal funding that was pulled this month over allegations the school tolerated antisemitism on campus.
The Ivy League university in New York City acquiesced to several demands in a 4,000-word message from its interim president released on Friday. It laid out plans to reform its disciplinary process, hire security officers with arrest powers and appoint a new official with a broad remit to review departments that offer courses on the Middle East.
Columbia’s dramatic concessions to the government’s extraordinary demands, which stem from protests that convulsed the Manhattan campus over the Israel-Gaza war, immediately prompted criticism. The outcome could have broad ramifications as the Trump administration has warned at least 60 other universities of similar action.
What Columbia would do with its Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies department was among the biggest questions facing the university as it confronted the cancellation, called unconstitutional by legal and civil groups, of hundreds of millions of dollars in government grants and contracts. The Trump administration had told the school to place the department under academic receivership for at least five years, taking control away from its faculty.
Academic receivership is a rare step taken by a university’s administrators to fix a dysfunctional department by appointing a professor or administrator outside the department to take over.
Columbia did not refer to receivership in Friday’s message. The university said it would appoint a new senior administrator to review leadership and to ensure programs are balanced at MESAAS, the Middle East Institute, the Center for Palestine Studies, the Institute for Israel and Jewish Studies and other departments with Middle East programs, along with Columbia’s satellite hubs in Tel Aviv and Amman.
‘TERRIBLE PRECEDENT’
Professor Jonathan Zimmerman, a historian of education at the University of Pennsylvania and a “proud” graduate of Columbia, called it a sad day for the university.
“Historically, there is no precedent for this,” Zimmerman said. “The government is using the money as a cudgel to micromanage a university.”
Todd Wolfson, a Rutgers University professor and president of the American Association of University Professors, called the Trump administration’s demands “arguably the greatest incursion into academic freedom, freedom of speech and institutional autonomy that we’ve seen since the McCarthy era.”
“It sets a terrible precedent,” Wolfson said. “I know every academic faculty member in this country is angry about Columbia University’s inability to stand up to a bully.”
In a campus-wide email, Katrina Armstrong, Columbia’s interim president, wrote that the her priorities were “to advance our mission, ensure uninterrupted academic activities, and make every student, faculty, and staff member safe and welcome on our campus.”
Mohammad Hemeida, an undergraduate who chairs Columbia’s Student Governing Board, said the school should have sought more student and faculty input.
“It’s incredibly disappointing Columbia gave in to government pressure instead of standing firm on the commitments to students and to academic freedom, which they emphasized to us in almost daily emails,” he said.
The White House did not respond to Columbia’s memo on Friday. The Trump administration said its demands, laid out in a letter to Armstrong eight days ago, were a precondition before Columbia could enter “formal negotiations” with the government to have federal funding.
ARREST POWERS
Columbia’s response is being watched by other universities that the administration has targeted as it advances its policy objectives in areas ranging from campus protests to transgender sports and diversity initiatives.
Private companies, law firms and other organizations have also faced threatened cuts in government funding and business unless they agree to adhere more closely to Trump’s priorities. Powerful Wall Street law firm Paul Weiss came under heavy criticism on Friday over a deal it struck with the White House to escape an executive order imperiling its business.
Columbia has come under particular scrutiny for the anti-Israel student protest movement that roiled its campus last year, when its lawns filled with tent encampments and noisy rallies against the US government’s support of the Jewish state.
To some of the Trump administration’s demands, such as having “time, place and manner” rules around protests, the school suggested they had already been met.
Columbia said it had already sought to hire peace officers with arrest powers before the Trump administration’s demand last week, saying 36 new officers had nearly completed the lengthy training and certification process under New York law.
The university said no one was allowed to wear face masks on campus if they were doing so intending to break rules or laws. The ban does not apply to face masks worn for medical or religious purposes, and the university did not say it was adopting the Trump administration’s demand that Columbia ID be worn visibly on clothing.
The sudden shutdown of millions of dollars in federal funding to Columbia this month was already disrupting medical and scientific research at the school, researchers said.
Canceled projects included the development of an AI-based tool that helps nurses detect the deterioration of a patient’s health in hospital and research on uterine fibroids, non-cancerous tumors that can cause pain and affect women’s fertility.
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