Hamas (Washington Insider Magazine)—Hamas has acknowledged “faults” in the deadly October 7 attack it led on southern Israel, while insisting its fighters targeted Israeli soldiers and people bearing arms. The Palestinian group, which governs Gaza, released a 16-page report titled *Our Narrative* on Sunday, offering its perspective on the assault, which it refers to as Operation Al-Aqsa Flood.
The report asserts that the attack was a “necessary step” to counter Israeli actions against Palestinians and claims the group aimed to target military sites and capture soldiers to leverage their release for Palestinian prisoners held in Israel. According to Hamas, the Qassam Brigades, its armed wing, adheres to a “religious and moral commitment” to avoid harming civilians, asserting that any civilian deaths were accidental.
Hamas has rejected allegations from Israeli authorities of war crimes, including torture, rape, and mutilation, which Israel claims were committed during the attack. The report also attributed some casualties to the chaos that ensued from the collapse of Israeli security forces and the actions of the Israeli army and police.
In response to the attack, Israel launched a devastating military campaign against Gaza, killing over 25,000 people, mostly women and children, according to Palestinian officials. Both Palestinian authorities and human rights groups have accused Israel of war crimes during the assault.
Addressing the future of Gaza, the Hamas report emphasized the right of the Palestinian people to decide their fate without external interference, citing the continued Israeli occupation, settlement expansion, and past violence as driving forces behind the conflict.
