A request for forgiveness but not mea culpa. Hamas presented for the first time “apologies” to Gazans for the suffering caused by the war against Israel, in a long statement published Sunday evening on its Telegram channel.
The Palestinian Islamist movement – considered terrorist in particular by the European Union, the United States and Israel – takes the opportunity, on the other hand, to reiterate its desire to continue this war, which, according to it, must make it possible to achieve “victory and freedom” of the Palestinians.
Hamas blames “ongoing aggression”
Sending “a message of thanks to the people” of the Gaza Strip whose “exhaustion” it recognizes, Hamas insists on the measures it says it has tried to put in place to reduce the difficulties, in particular attempts at “control prices” within the limits of its capabilities “given the ongoing aggression”. He also claims to communicate with “all components” of Gazan society, mentioning other armed movements, “popular committees” and “families” in order to “resolve the problems caused by the occupation”.
Humanitarian needs are immense in the Gaza Strip, a territory already undermined before the war by an Israeli blockade imposed since 2006, poverty and unemployment. Aid is trickling in, and most of the population has been displaced to the southernmost part, around Rafah, near the closed Egyptian border. This city, which had fewer than 300,000 inhabitants before the war, is now home to more than a million, according to UN estimates.
In recent months, various Hamas personalities, such as Khaled Mechaal, former head of the movement’s political office, had estimated that “sacrifices” were necessary for the “liberation” of the Palestinians.
More than 30,000 deaths since October 7
The war was triggered by an unprecedented attack carried out from the Gaza Strip by Hamas on October 7 in Israel which resulted in the deaths of at least 1,160 people, mainly civilians, according to a count established using official Israeli data. . According to Israel, around 250 people were also kidnapped and 130 of them are still hostages in Gaza, 34 of whom died. In retaliation, Israel launched an offensive which left 32,782 dead, according to a latest report Friday from the Hamas Ministry of Health.