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Hamas used a uncommon pre-recorded English language press convention to assert it had given “clear directions” to its fighters to not goal civilians because it sought to counter waves of worldwide condemnation.
Basim Naim, the terrorist group’s head of worldwide relations, insisted its gunmen had been “eager to keep away from harming civilians” – in an obvious determined and easily-disproved try at media administration.
Talking into 4 microphones, Naim mentioned on Thursday evening that Hamas terrorists had “focused solely Israeli navy bases and compounds that had been suffocating the folks of Gaza for greater than 17 years.”
He was accompanied by spokesman Ghazi Hamad. The pair appeared in entrance of a inexperienced display screen, with scenes of city warfare projected onto the backdrop.
Different Hamas officers have claimed the 260 party-goers massacred at the Supernova festival on Saturday might have been mistaken for “resting” troopers.
Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netantyahu, has vowed to completely eradicate the terrorist group, with a floor invasion anticipated as early as Saturday.
Each he and Joe Biden, the US President, have mentioned the atrocities carried out by Hamas match the extraordinary brutality of the Islamic State (ISIS).
In an effort to win worldwide sympathy, Naim blamed the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) for civilian deaths, claiming that the “the swift collapse of the Israeli navy bases and the give up of the Israeli troopers” prompted “chaos” during which “civilians discovered themselves in the midst of the confrontations.”
Naim additionally defended the group in opposition to accusations they’ve mistreated or killed captives, saying: “We’re totally dedicated to deal with them in accordance with our spiritual values and the foundations of worldwide humanitarian regulation.”
He additionally “firmly” rejected accusations of atrocities dedicated in opposition to infants, as he chastised the media for printing “lies and Israeli propaganda.”
The Telegraph on Thursday published an image showing the corpse of a months-old baby, coated in blood in an unzipped physique bag.
‘We had been victims earlier than them’
Earlier within the week senior Hamas chief Moussa Abu Marzouk mentioned that these killed on the Supernova rave might have been mistaken for sleeping Israeli troopers. Their deaths had been a “coincidence”, he informed The Economist.
Talking from Doha, the Qatari capital the place a lot of the group’s management lives in exile, Marzouk admitted that civilians had been killed, however mentioned “we had been victims earlier than them.”
Sir Lawrence Freedman, Emeritus Professor of Battle Research at King’s School London, known as Hamas’s makes an attempt to disclaim killing civilians “hopeless”, however instructed that the carnage might have been greater than the group had anticipated.
“It’s clear they went additional than they could have initially anticipated to do as a result of they got the chance to take action,” mentioned Freedman, citing the gradual response time of IDF troopers caught out by the shock assault.
“In the event that they stored it extra restricted, they’d have gained extra,” mentioned Mr Freedman. “In that sense, it backfired.”
With worldwide opinion now turned in opposition to them, Hamas is “attempting to counter the narrative that they’re akin to ISIS”, mentioned Mohanad Hage Ali, a deputy director for analysis on the Carnegie Center East Heart.
Mr Hage Ali mentioned that the group will discover the prevailing narrative “fairly tough to counter” and any hopes it may need had of collaborating in future peace talks appear not possible.
“Hamas, for Europe and the US, is a terrorist organisation,” he mentioned. “It won’t be seen as a reliable consultant for Palestine in negotiations.”
‘Large dying toll’
On Friday, the Gazan Well being Ministry introduced that Israeli bombing has killed 1,700 folks, over 500 of whom had been youngsters.
“It’s catastrophic,” mentioned Mr Hage Ali. “There’s an enormous dying toll on each side.”
It got here as Hamas launched movies which seem to point out terrorists carrying and comforting Israeli youngsters.
Dozens of kids are recognized to have been killed or kidnapped throughout the Hamas incursion. A complete of a minimum of 1,600 folks have been killed in Israel thus far.
The 49 second clip reveals a little bit boy sitting on the knee of 1 gunman, surrounded by a minimum of eight extra, within the backyard of what might have as soon as been his household house.
In one other clip, the identical boy is informed to repeat one thing and drink from a cup.
No particulars of their mother and father, and whether or not they’re nonetheless alive, are given. It’s not recognized the place the kids are, or whether or not they’re alive.
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