Hamas leaders have made a number of recent media appearances which offer a revealing insight into their view of the conflict. On August 26, Hamas leader Mahmoud Al-Zahhar urged in a pubic address broadcast on Hamas TV that “the Gaza experience should be repeated in the West Bank” and claimed that Israeli soldiers “vomited and wet their pants” when told they were to enter the Shuja’iyya neighborhood of the Gaza Strip. According to a MEMRI translation:
Hamas
August 26, 2014 Clip No. 4456 Mahmoud Al-Zahhar: The Gaza Experience Should Be Repeated in the West Bank and Jerusalem
In an address in Gaza on August 26, Hamas leader Mahmoud Al-Zahhar said that the Gaza experience should be repeated in the West Bank, and said: ‘We are entering a phase of rebuilding the homes, rearming, and developing our capabilities, until we can liberate all of Palestine.’ The address aired on Al-Aqsa TV.
Mahmoud Al-Zahhar: ‘Read what it says in the newspapers about the (Israeli) soldiers who were told that they were to enter Shuja’iyya. They vomited and wet their pants. Dear brothers, the true owners of the land have vanquished the foreign settlers. While the people of Gaza were emerging from the rubble, and sitting on (what was left) of their homes, more than half of occupied Palestine was evacuated. The (Israelis) were saying: We will not return before the Al-Qassam Brigades says so. Today, we have told them to return, because we know we are entering a phase of rebuilding the homes, rearming, and developing our capabilities, until we can liberate all of Palestine…’
On August 27, Hamas Prime Minister appeared to accept responsibility for initiating the recent Gaza conflict by telling a rally broadcast on Hamas TV that “The battle began with the shelling of Haifa.” According to a MEMRI translation:
August 27, 2014 Clip No. 4455 Hamas Leader Ismail Haniya: ‘The Battle Began and Ended with the Shelling of Haifa’
In the ‘victory’ celebrations in Gaza on August 27, Hamas PM Ismail Haniya declared: ‘The battle began with the shelling of Haifa and ended with the shelling of Haifa.’ The rally was broadcast on Al-Aqsa TV.
Announcer: ‘The resistance bombards and declares: More surprises are to be expected. We regret to announce that Tel Aviv was bombarded. Shadi Al-Bourini and Qassem Al-Najjar in their song: ‘Strike a blow at Tel Aviv. ‘Strike a blow at Tel Aviv. ‘Strike a blow at Tel Aviv. ‘Make the Zionists tremble with terror. ‘Whatever you build we will destroy. ‘Strike a blow at Tel Aviv…’
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Ismail Haniya: ‘The Battle began with the shelling of Haifa and ended with the shelling of Haifa.’
On August 28, Hamas political leader living in exile in Qatar made a public address also broadcast on Hamas TV in which he said that the Israelis had “perpetrated a new holocaust, even worse than the holocaust perpetrated by Hitler.” According to a MEMRI translation:
Following are excerpts from a public address delivered by Hamas leader Khaled Mash’al, which aired on Al-Quds TV on August 28, 2014:
Khaled Mash’al: Our hearts go out to the displaced, to the 460,000 of our people in Gaza against whom the leaders of the enemy perpetrated a new holocaust, even worse than the holocaust perpetrated by Hitler. They destroyed neighborhoods, homes, towers, hospitals, schools, and factories. They targeted all the capabilities of our people, and indeed, they targeted many of them. Now they are displaced, and my heart goes out to you, my brothers and sisters in Gaza.
Additionally, Israel media has reported that a senior Hamas leader has suggested that the organization’s recent public executions were undertaken “to satisfy the public.” According to a Ynet News report:
August 24, 2014 Israel News After Hamas’ string of public executions in the Gaza Strip garnered intense criticism, with Palestinian officials and human rights organizations calling them ‘provocative’ and ‘grossly unfair’, senior Hamas leader Moussa Abu Marzouk has offered an unconventional perspective on the matter, saying that the actions were conducted in public in an attempt to satisfy the Palestinian people’s desires. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Abu Marzouk’s comments were made in an interview with al-Jazeera on Friday while he was in Qatar, where he met with Khaled Mashal to discuss the next steps after the collapse of ceasefire talks in Cairo.
Abu Marzouk’s interview with al-Jazeera During the interview, Abu Marzouk was asked whether ‘the information regarding the 18 informers (was) based on real time information, or did you already have the information at hand without conducting the execution, but the decision (to execute) was made today?’
Hamas lining up victims for execution The Hamas official’s answer was surprising: ‘No, basically there were already sentenced to death, but the execution was done collectively today (Friday).’ ‘It is possible that this step was taken to satisfy the public in this matter, without considering other legal measures that should have been taken,’ Abu Marzouk added.
