Palestinian Hamas says in a document released Sunday that its Oct. 7 attack on Israel was “a necessary step” against Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories, admitting that the “chaos” led to “mistakes.” .
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The Islamist movement, which has been in power in Gaza since 2007, calls for an end to “Israeli aggression,” affirms that the “Palestinian people” can “decide the future” of the coastal area and rejects “international or Israeli projects.”
In this nearly 20-page document, the first of its kind, Hamas, considered a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union and Israel, states that it wants to present “its version of the facts.”
While its October 7 attack on Israel killed 1,140 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count based on official Israeli figures, Hamas insists on the fact that it “did its best not to harm civilians.”
“Mistakes may have been made in the implementation of Operation al-Aqsa Flood, as the security and military apparatus along the Israel-Gaza border suddenly collapsed,” Hamas asserts.
“Preventing harm to civilians, especially children, women and the elderly, is a religious and moral obligation of the fighters of the Al-Qassam Brigades,” he continues, referring to its armed wing.
AFP
Investigations are underway in Israel following reports of sexual violence.
On October 7, some 250 people were taken hostage in these attacks, which were unprecedented in their violence and scale, and Israel says 132 people remain trapped in the area – 27 of them dead, according to a count by the AFP news agency on official Israeli figures.
Since then, more than 25,000 Palestinians, the vast majority women, children and teenagers, have been killed in the Gaza Strip by Israeli bombings and military operations, according to the Hamas Health Ministry.
In its report, the Islamist movement also calls for “an immediate end to Israeli aggression against Gaza and to the killings and ethnic cleansing against the entire population of Gaza.”
As for the territory's future, Hamas says it “categorically rejects any international or Israeli project that aims to decide the future of the Gaza Strip” and emphasizes that “the Palestinian people have the ability to decide their future.” to decide and organize its internal affairs”. Matters” by insisting that “no one in the world” has the right to decide for them.