Senior Hamas politburo figure Mousa Abu Marzouk acknowledges that had he foreseen the fallout from the October 7, 2023, assault on southern Israel, he would not have supported it. The attack, orchestrated by Hamas, resulted in the brutal murder of 1,200 individuals and the abduction of 251 hostages, triggering a devastating Israeli response in Gaza.
“If it was expected that what happened would happen, there wouldn’t have been October 7,” he tells The New York Times in an interview.
Based in Qatar, Abu Marzouk describes Hamas’s continued existence as a “kind of victory,” though he concedes that the group cannot genuinely claim to have prevailed over Israel.
“We’re talking about a party that lost control of itself and took revenge against everything,” he says, referring to Israel’s actions. “That is not a victory under any circumstances.”
In addition, he informs the Times that Hamas is open to discussions regarding disarmament, stating, “We are ready to speak about every issue. Any issue that is put on the table, we need to speak about it.”
{Matzav.com Israel}