From Hamas’s “Our Narrative… Operation Al-Aqsa Flood”:

“The events of Oct. 7 must be put in its broader context, and that all cases of struggle against colonialism and occupation in our contemporary time be evoked. These experiences of struggle show that in the same level of oppression committed by the occupier; there would be an equivalent response by the people under occupation.”“Our Narrative… Operation Al-Aqsa Flood,” Hamas Online Telegram Channel, January 21, 2024.

From Hamas’s “Our Narrative… Operation Al-Aqsa Flood”:

“In light of the Israeli fabricated accusations and allegations over Operation Al-Aqsa Flood on Oct. 7 and its repercussions, we in the Islamic Resistance Movement – Hamas clarify the following:

“1. Operation Al-Aqsa Flood on Oct. 7 targeted the Israeli military sites, and sought to arrest the enemy’s soldiers to pressure on the Israeli authorities to release the thousands of Palestinians held in Israeli jails through a prisoners exchange deal. Therefore, the operation focused on destroying the Israeli army’s Gaza Division, the Israeli military sites stationed near the Israeli settlements around Gaza.

“2. Avoiding harm to civilians, especially children, women and elderly people is a religious and moral commitment by all the Al-Qassam Brigades’ fighters. We reiterate that the Palestinian resistance was fully disciplined and committed to the Islamic values during the operation and that the Palestinian fighters only targeted the occupation soldiers and those who carried weapons against our people. In the meantime, the Palestinian fighters were keen to avoid harming civilians despite the fact that the resistance does not possess precise weapons. In addition, if there was any case of targeting civilians; it happened accidently and in the course of the confrontation with the occupation forces.

“Since its establishment in 1987, the Hamas Movement committed itself to avoiding harm to civilians. After Zionist criminal Baruch Goldstein in 1994 committed a massacre against Palestinian worshippers in the Al-Ibrahimi Mosque in occupied Hebron City, the Hamas Movement announced an initiative to avoid civilians the brunt of fighting by all parties, but the Israeli occupation rejected it and even did not give any comment on it.

“The Hamas Movement also repeated such calls several times, but received by a deaf ear from the Israeli occupation which continued its deliberate targeting and killing of Palestinian civilians.

“3. Maybe some faults happened during Operation Al-Aqsa Flood’s implementation due to the rapid collapse of the Israeli security and military system, and the chaos caused along the border areas with Gaza.

“As attested by many, the Hamas Movement dealt in a positive and kind manner with all civilians who have been held in Gaza, and sought from the earliest days of the aggression to release them, and that’s what happened during the week-long humanitarian truce where those civilians were released in exchange of releasing Palestinian women and children from Israeli jails.

“4. What the Israeli occupation promoted of allegations that the Al-Qassam Brigades on Oct. 7 were targeting Israeli civilians are nothing but complete lies and fabrications. The source of these allegations is the Israeli official narrative and no independent source proved any of them. It is a well-known fact that the Israeli official narrative had always sought to demonize the Palestinian resistance, while also legalizing its brutal aggression on Gaza.”“Our Narrative… Operation Al-Aqsa Flood,” Hamas Online Telegram Channel, January 21, 2024.

From Hamas’s “Our Narrative… Operation Al-Aqsa Flood”:

“What was expected from the Palestinian people after all of that? To keep waiting and to keep counting on the helpless UN! Or to take the initiative in defending the Palestinian people, lands, rights and sanctities; knowing that the defense act is a right enshrined in international laws, norms and conventions. Proceeding from the above, Operation Al-Aqsa Flood on Oct. 7 was a necessary step and a normal response to confront all Israeli conspiracies against the Palestinian people and their cause. It was a defensive act in the frame of getting rid of the Israeli occupation, reclaiming the Palestinian rights and on the way for liberation and independence like all peoples around the world did.”“Our Narrative… Operation Al-Aqsa Flood,” Hamas Online Telegram Channel, January 21, 2024.

In response to a New York Times report on Hamas sexual violence on October 7:

“Our resistance members are fighters for freedom and dignity, they would never commit such shameful acts. Our religion, values and culture and societal norms don’t accept these acts and even don’t tolerate them. We mention that there was not a single ‘rape case’ filed in Palestinian courts in Gaza against any citizen.

“The Palestinian fighters on October 7 were busy in one mission which is to defend the Palestinian people and to break unjust siege imposed on Gaza by fighting the Gaza Division of the Israeli army, and successfully performed such mission in a glorious and honourable way.

“Furthermore, the duration of the Al-Aqsa Flood operation was very short; it was a matter of few hours and most of the fighters had withdrawn from the Israeli sites back to Gaza to take their positions to defend our people and land. Such period could never give time or space to the fighters to think of nothing but their mission which is to crush the enemy’s military sites.”Bassem Naim, “Response to the New York Times misleading report against the Palestinian resistance on Oct. 7,” Hamas Online Telegram Channel, December 31, 2023.

“The Zionist occupation’s staged theatrics, featuring unarmed civilians in Gaza, having been detained and surrounded by placed weapons, represent a desperate and transparent ploy.

“The occupation’s claims linking these unarmed detainees to the Al-Qassam Brigades lack authenticity and are steeped in falsehood, failing to garner any credence within the realm of truth and reality. Such proclamations are mere illusions that find no purchase in the discerning minds of those observing. The occupiers are ill-acquainted with the indomitable spirit of the resistance heroes emerging unexpectedly from unconventional quarters, consistently fortifying their positions against incursions, ensuring the Israeli soldiers and their commanders pay the price, and steadfastly targeting settlements. They are the fighters for nation and the cause of Allah, unfamiliar with the concepts of surrender or defeat. Their enduring motto remains: ‘It is Jihad, we are either destined for victory or martyrdom.’”Hamas statement, Hamas Online Telegram Channel, December 10, 2023.

Statement advocating for Pakistani military intervention in Gaza:

“It is the shari’a obligation of the military leadership that instead of condolences and sympathy, it should root out the Jewish state and destroy this cancerous pimple…Why are [Pakistan's] ballistic missiles not being fired at Tel Aviv to protect our mujahideen on the ground?... If your current leaders are not able to lead you in this war, then hand over the power to someone who can establish the caliphate based on the Prophet and move the armies for Jihad against Jews.”“Hizbut Tahrir Pakistan Calls On Pakistani Military To Fight Israel: ‘Why Are [Pakistan’s] Ballistic Missiles Not Being Fired At Tel Aviv To Protect Our Mujahideen?,’” Middle East Media Research Institute, November 20, 2023, https://www.memri.org/jttm/hizbut-tahrir-pakistan-calls-pakistani-military-fight-israel-why-are-pakistans-ballistic.

“[We must] head to the squares and streets of the Arab and Islamic world on Friday. Tribes of Jordan, sons of Jordan, brothers and sisters of Jordan... This is a moment of truth and the borders are close to you, you all know your responsibility. To all scholars who teach jihad... to all who teach and learn, this is a moment for the application (of theories).”“Former Hamas chief calls for protests, neighbours to join war against Israel,” Reuters, October 11, 2023, https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/former-hamas-chief-calls-protests-neighbours-join-war-against-israel-2023-10-11/.

“The Hezbollah Brigades derives its goals and pillars from the sharia rulings, on which the formation was based. Our first goal was and still remains: thwarting the American project in the region, defeat of the occupation, and expelling them from Iraq, broken and humbled. The second goal is reclaiming Iraq’s sovereignty and granting all of its people their rights. As for our jihadi pillars, there are four. Firstly, waging jihad against the occupation until the last American is expelled from Iraq.”“About Kata’ib Hezbollah,” The Islamic Resistance Kata’ib Hezbollah Official Website, accessed June 27, 2018, http://www.kataibhizbollah.com/institute/2711.

“There are many parties in Pakistan, but America has only sent a message to Jamaat-ud-Dawa, because we do jihad. They [the United States] are even scared of my name.”Bill Roggio, “‘We Do Jihad,’ Says Lashkar-e-Taiba Emir Hafiz Saeed,” Long War Journal, April 7, 2012, http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2012/04/we_do_jihad_lashkar.php.