FLASHBACK: On Oct 7, 2023, Hamas Explains Motives in Official Statement; Media Ignores
“A response to the Israeli occupation’s crimes after several warnings...”
One year ago today, on October 7, 2023, Hamas published a statement on their official website explaining their motives for what they dubbed “Operation Aqsa Flood.”
It was republished by Decensored News after being brought to our attention by journalist Sam Husseini but there was an almost complete media blackout otherwise.
The Hamas website was then totally removed from the internet within approximately 48 hours, and remains down to this day.
In the statement, Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh — who has since been assassinated — said this “large-scale military operation” was “a response to the Israeli occupation’s crimes after several warnings.”
Some of the specific grievances and motives cited were that Israel had:
- Shown “utter disregard for international laws”
- “Repeatedly attacked several cities in the West Bank”
- “Continued to storm the Al-Aqsa mosque”
- “Targeted Palestinian detainees held in Israeli jails,” including torture
- “Continued to tighten its siege imposed for more than 17 years on the Gaza Strip”
“When the situation became too aggravated, the Palestinian resistance was forced to take a strategic decision and continue the series of Palestinian uprisings and intifadas by launching Operation Al-Aqsa Flood,” Hamas said.
Read the full statement here, along with documentation of the media blackout:
“Hamas is being discussed by so many,” Sam wrote on October 8, 2023. “Words don’t do justice to how perverse it is to not simply look at the stated justification by Hamas.”
