The Hamas militant group on Monday morning declared that its attack on Israel which it launched on October 7 was a “necessary step” against Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories.
However, the group admitted in a 16-page report on the attacks that “some faults happened… due to the rapid collapse of the Israeli security and military system, and the chaos caused along the border areas with Gaza”.
Africa Today News, New York reports that the document was the group’s first public report released in English and Arabic justified the attacks when they broke through Gaza’s militarised border.
Their attacks resulted in the deaths of about 1,140 people, mostly civilians, according to official Israeli figures.
The militant group said the attacks were “a necessary step and a normal response to confront all Israeli conspiracies against the Palestinian people”.
The militants seized about 250 hostages during the attack. Israel says around 132 remain in Gaza, of whom at least 27 captives are believed to have been killed, according to Israeli figures.
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Israel’s relentless bombardment and ground offensive have killed at least 25,105 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
Hamas urged “the immediate halt of the Israeli aggression on Gaza, the crimes and ethnic cleansing committed against the entire Gaza population”.
The group rejected any international and Israeli efforts to decide Gaza’s post-war future.
“We stress that the Palestinian people can decide their future and arrange their internal affairs,” the statement said, adding that “no party in the world” had the right to decide on their behalf.
Africa Today News, New York recalls that last week, the Secretary of State of the United States, Antony Blinken called on Israel to help rather than hinder the Palestinian Authority, stressing that given the current situation, Israel’s long-term security was at stake.
Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Blinken renewed his call for a “pathway to a Palestinian state” even as Washington backs Israel’s Gaza campaign launched in response to the October 7 Hamas attack.