Hamas says it has never targeted civilians, Israel carried out Oct. 7

Hamas has never targeted civilians, hospitals, schools or mosques, a senior spokesman for the terrorist group declared in a televised interview aired this week.

Osama Hamdan called all such accusations lies and blamed Israel exclusively for civilian deaths in the recent war, speaking in an interview with Norway’s public broadcaster NRK that was conducted in Istanbul.

He rejected any possibility of the terrorist group laying down its weapons, saying that “the resistance will be continued” despite the devastation in Gaza.

“We will not disarm without an end to the occupation forever, Israel returning to pre-’67 borders, including Jerusalem; and the right of return to Palestinians,” he said in the interview.

Hamas’s refusal to disarm flies in the face of the U.S.-mediated ceasefire framework, which envisions the terrorist group’s disarmament and the dismantling of its “military” capabilities as a core element of any sustainable postwar arrangement in Gaza.

Israel has repeatedly insisted that any lasting ceasefire or postwar arrangement in Gaza must include the full disarmament of Hamas and the dismantling of its “military” and governing capabilities.

During the interview, Hamdan claimed that the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre at the Supernova music festival was carried out by Israel and dismissed eyewitness testimony and body-camera footage showing Hamas gunmen targeting civilians as fabricated.

Addressing Hamas’s rule in Gaza, Hamdan said the organization retains democratic legitimacy because it won Palestinian legislative elections in 2006—the last elections held in the territory—while acknowledging that most Gazans today were not yet born at the time. He denied that fear or repression exists in the Strip and insisted Palestinians are free to criticize Hamas.

He also defended Hamas’s treatment of Palestinians accused of collaboration, describing beatings, torture and public executions as lawful and consistent with what he termed “Palestinian law,” including executions carried out within 48 hours of sentencing.

When asked what responsibility Hamas bears for the destruction in Gaza, Hamdan blamed Israel entirely and declined to acknowledge Hamas’s role in initiating the war on Oct. 7.

© JNS