Hamas praises ‘glorious’ Oct 7 attack ahead of anniversary

A young protestor holds a sign reading “Save the Children of Gaza” as people demonstrate to mark one year of the war between Hamas and Israel in Los Angeles, on October 5, 2024. Agence France-Presse

DOHA — Palestinian militant group Hamas on Sunday praised its October 7 attack on Israel in a video message ahead of the first anniversary of the deadly storming of southern Israel which sparked the war in Gaza.

“The crossing of the glorious 7th of October shattered the illusions the enemy had created for itself, convincing the world and the region of its supposed superiority and capabilities,” Qatar-based Hamas member Khalil al-Hayya said in a video statement.

Last year’s October 7 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,205 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures that include hostages killed in captivity.

READ: 10 key developments since the October 7 attacks on Israel

At least 41,870 Palestinians, a majority of them civilians, have been killed in Israel’s military campaign in the Gaza Strip since the war began, according to data provided by the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza. The UN has acknowledged these figures as reliable.

Al-Hayya said a year after the October 7 attack, “all of Palestine, particularly Gaza, and our Palestinian people are writing a new history with their resistance, blood and steadfastness”.

The Hamas member, who has emerged as the Islamist group’s public face following the killing of its former leader Ismail Haniyeh in July, said Gazans had remained “resilient to all attempts at displacement… despite the kinds of torture and terrorism you have endured, and the horrific genocide and daily massacre”.

READ: Israel on alert ahead of Hamas attack anniversary

Months of behind-the-scenes negotiations mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the United States have failed to halt the fighting between Hamas and Israel, with the exception of a one-week truce beginning in late November.

Al-Hayya, who has worked as Hamas’s lead negotiator in talks since the end of July, reiterated Hamas’s position that Israel had obstructed a truce in Gaza.

“What we rejected yesterday, we will not accept tomorrow, and what the occupation (Israel) failed to impose by force, it will not take at the negotiating table,” he said.