A senior Hamas leader has refused to admit that his terror group killed civilians in Israel in the October 7 attack, which took place a month ago today.
Moussa Abu Marzouk, the deputy chairman of Hamas’ political bureau, said that “women, children and civilians” were excluded from the looting attacks and that they targeted only conscripts, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary.
Videos filmed by Hamas militants themselves and other clips show them shooting unarmed civilians, while bodies of men, women and children were found in several attacked communities in southern Israel.
Israel said more than 1,400 people were killed in the country, mostly civilians, in the October 7 Hamas attack that sparked the war.
The Palestinian terror group also took more than 240 people, including children and the elderly, back across the border into Gaza.
Israel, which launched a massive bombardment of Gaza and an intensification of its ground offensive in response to the attack, has vowed to oust Hamas from power.
Moussa Abu Marzouk, the deputy chairman of Hamas’ political bureau, said that “women, children and civilians” were excluded from the looting attacks and that they targeted only conscripts, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary.
In this social media image posted on Nov. 6, rescue workers stand next to body bags left outside a building after the Hamas attack on Oct. 7 in Kibbutz Alumim, Israel. Israel says more than 1,400 people, most of them civilians, were killed in the country in the October 7 Hamas attack that sparked the war.
Marzouk’s comments came in an interview with the BBC on Saturday.
READ MORE: Hamas terrorist billionaires live in villas and luxury hotels with marble floors as they decry Gaza’s poverty after profiting from misery and terror
The broadcaster said it had pressed him over the war in Gaza, focusing mainly on the hundreds of hostages being held in the besieged coastal strip.
The 72-year-old, who was once jailed in the US and had his assets frozen in Britain under anti-terrorism regulations, said the hostages would not be released as long as Israel continued to bomb Gaza.
“We will release them.” But we have to stop the fighting,” he said.
Marzouk disputed the attack, claiming that Mohamed el-Deif, the leader of Hamas’s military wing, ordered the thousands of gunmen who poured into Israel on October 7 to spare civilians and attack only reservists.
“El-Deif clearly told his fighters: ‘Don’t kill a woman, don’t kill a child and don’t kill an old man,'” he told the BBC. He said only reservist soldiers were being “targeted”, but insisted they were only “recruits”. […] or soldiers were killed.
Women, children and civilians were “excluded,” he said.
The BBC said Marzouk appeared irritated at points during the interview.
When asked about video footage that clearly shows Hamas militants shooting and killing civilians, the broadcaster said he avoided answering the question.
He was also asked if Hamas’s political wing was aware of El-Deif’s preparations for the attack, the biggest terrorist attack in Israel’s history.
Marzouk said the military wing of the group’s Qassam Brigades “does not have to consult with political leaders.” It is not necessary.’
Hamas’ political wing, based in Qatar, often distances itself from its forces in Gaza, which are estimated to number around 40,000.
Children’s toys and personal belongings lie on the bloodstained floor of a children’s room on October 17 following the deadly infiltration by Hamas gunmen and the attack on Kibbutz Beeri
A woman looks at newly dug graves for the victims of the October 7 attack during the funeral of Albert Miles, 80, who was killed in the cemetery at his home on Kibbutz Beeri during the deadly infiltration of Israel by Hamas gunmen from the Gaza Strip Kibbutz Revivim, October 30
However, many Western governments, including Britain, make no distinction between the two. Britain declared Hamas a terrorist organization in 2021, saying at the time: “The approach to distinguish between the different parts of Hamas is artificial. “Hamas is a complex but distinct terrorist organization.”
Marzouk, who is believed to be worth billions of dollars, has been active in the Islamic political world since 1968. He was elected the first head of Hamas’ political bureau in 1992 and has been its deputy chairman since 1997.
He also founded the Islamic Republic of Palestine, an organization accused by the United States of raising money for Hamas.
The United States designated him as a “Specially Designated Terrorist” in 1995.
The same year he was arrested for activities supporting terrorism and deported after two years. He then moved to Jordan, then to Syria and finally to Cairo in 2012.
Marzouk said last week that his terrorist group’s political office is not responsible for the protection of citizens of the coastal strip.
Palestinian militants drive an Israeli military vehicle that was seized by gunmen who invaded areas in the northern Gaza Strip in southern Israel on October 7.
Smoke rises as Palestinians leave the Israeli kibbutz Kfar Aza on October 7
“We built the tunnels because we have no other way to protect ourselves from being killed in airstrikes. “We fight from the tunnels,” he said.
He went further and added: “75 percent of Gaza’s population are refugees and it is the responsibility of the United Nations to protect them.”
The Palestinian death toll has passed 10,000, the health ministry of the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip said on Monday, including more than 4,100 children.
More than 2,300 people are missing and are believed to be buried under the rubble of destroyed buildings, the ministry said. The ministry makes no distinction between civilians and fighters, and Israel says it has killed thousands of fighters.
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Elizabeth Cabrera is an author and journalist who writes for The Fashion Vibes. With a talent for staying up-to-date on the latest news and trends, Elizabeth is dedicated to delivering informative and engaging articles that keep readers informed on the latest developments.
