The Palestinian group provides its account of what happened before and during the assault on communities in southern Israel.
The Palestinian group Hamas said there were “mistakes” in its October 7 attack in southern Israel, but claimed its fighters had only targeted Israeli soldiers and civilians. people carrying weapons.
In a 16-page report titled “Our Story” released Sunday, Hamas, which governs Gaza, said it wanted to “clarify” the context and dynamics of the surprise attack it calls Operation Al-Aqsa Flood.
In its first public report since the attack, Hamas said it was a “necessary step and a normal response to confront all Israeli conspiracies against the Palestinian people.”
Early on October 7, Hamas fighters stormed communities along the southern border between Israel and Gaza. At least 1,139 people, mostly civilians, were killed in the attack, according to an Tel Aviv Tribune tally based on official Israeli statistics, and around 240 others were captured.
Around 100 prisoners were released during a seven-day truce in late November in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails.
Israeli authorities accused Hamas fighters of committing war crimes during the attack, including torture, rape and mutilation. Hamas has strongly rejected the allegations of sexual violence and/or mutilation.
“Maybe mistakes happened”
The report said Hamas plans to target Israeli military sites and capture soldiers, which could be used to pressure Israeli authorities to release thousands of Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.
The group said avoiding harm to civilians “is a religious and moral commitment” by fighters from Hamas’ armed wing, the Qassam Brigades.
“If there was a case of targeting civilians; this happened accidentally and during the confrontation with the occupying forces,” the report reads.
He added that “perhaps some mistakes occurred” during the attack “due to the rapid collapse of the Israeli security and military system and the chaos caused in areas near Gaza.”
“Many Israelis have been killed by the Israeli army and police due to their confusion,” the text adds.
Israel responded to the attack with a devastating bombardment of Gaza, which has been under Israeli blockade for 17 years, killing more than 25,000 people – mostly women and children, according to Palestinian authorities in the territory.
Palestinian officials and human rights groups have accused Israel of committing war crimes in its attack on Gaza.
The Hamas report also addresses the issue of the post-war Gaza Strip, a day after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu redoubled his opposition to the creation of a Palestinian state.
“We emphasize that the Palestinian people have the capacity to decide their future and organize their internal affairs,” the report said, adding that “no party in the world” has the right to decide for them.
The report also lists the reasons that led to the attack, citing Israel’s settlement building campaign “and the Judaization of Palestinian lands in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem,” and the killing of thousands of Palestinian civilians from 2000 to this year. .