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.

“We tell the Americans that your actions against Yemen will be defeated and we will confront you with all of our power. After this aggression, Yemen will turn into the graveyard of the Americans and they will leave the region in humiliation.”“Ansarullah: Yemen to become graveyard of Americans after US aggression,” Islamic Republic News Agency, January 15, 2024, https://en.irna.ir/news/85354714/Ansarullah-Yemen-to-become-graveyard-of-Americans-after-US-aggression.

“The Yemeni armed forces are responding forcefully to the American and British warships in the Red Sea, sparking a fierce war in the Red Sea and targeting American and British military sites and bases...and what is coming is greater.”Alperen Aktas, “Yemen’s response to American, British aggression not delayed: Houthi leader,” Anadolu Agency, January 12, 2024, https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/yemen-s-response-to-american-british-aggression-not-delayed-houthi-leader/3106702.

“We send a message of blessing, pride and praise to the men of the Al-Qassam Brigades and the Al-Quds Brigades and all the heroes of the Palestinian resistance who continue to poke the noses of the officers and soldiers of the occupation army and insult their faces, and make their leaders pay the price for their occupation of our land, and the price for their crimes against our people, our land and our sanctities.”

“The Nazi occupation’s marketing, in partnership with the American administration, of what is called ‘the transition to the third phase of the war’ comes in the context of false and exposed black propaganda by our people and our resistance, and a desperate attempt to pass it off as an achievement at the expense of the blood of our people, in light of the continuation of all forms of massacres and crimes against our people.”“Press Statement,” Hamas Online Telegram Channel, January 10, 2024.

“The prisoners of the Zionist enemy held by the resistance will not return alive to their families, unless Netanyahu and his war leaders respond to the conditions of the resistance, the first of which is a comprehensive and complete cessation of their aggression against the Gaza Strip.”“Press Statement,” Hamas Online Telegram Channel, January 10, 2024.

Statement entitled, “And Kill Them Wherever You find Them”:

“Monotheism is the goal, and jihad is the path…the war with the Jews will not end in a one-state solution or two-state solution, as nationalists believe. It is a religious ideological war that will continue until we kill their antichrist under the banner of the Prophet of Allah… tighten the plans and diversify operations: Blow them up with explosives, burn them with incendiary bombs, shoot them with bullets, slaughter their necks with knives, and run them over with buses.”“Islamic State (ISIS) Spokesman Instructs Muslims To Renew Lone Wolf Attacks In U.S., Europe, In Support Of Gaza; Discredits Palestinian Factions For Their Alliance With Iran, Calls On Arabs To Rebel Against Their Rulers,” Middle East Media Research Institute, January 4, 2024, https://www.memri.org/jttm/islamic-state-isis-spokesman-instructs-muslims-renew-lone-wolf-attacks-us-europe-support-gaza#_edn2.

Statement entitled, “And Kill Them Wherever You find Them”:

“Lions of Islam: Chase your preys whether Jewish, Christian or their allies, on the streets and roads of America, Europe, and the world. Break into their homes, kill them and steal their peace of mind by any means you can lay hands on. Understand that you are the arm of the Islamic State hitting in the kuffar’s homelands, and are avenging the Muslims in Palestine, Iraq, Sham, and other Muslim countries… Intentionally seek easy targets before hard ones, civilian targets before military one, religious targets like synagogues and churches before others, for this will satisfy the soul and will demonstrate the characteristics of the battle, as our battle with them is a religious one and we kill them wherever we come upon them in response to Allah Almighty’s command.”Abu Ḥudhayfah, “And Kill Them Wherever You find Them,” Halummu, January 4, 2024.

“The American administration’s endorsement of selling high-caliber artillery ammunition to the Zionist occupation entity amid the war of extermination conducted by its terrorist army against civilians in the Gaza Strip, and Secretary Blinken’s affirming the urgent provision of these ammunitions without Congress review, is a clear evidence of the American administration’s full sponsorship of this criminal war.

“The Biden administration conspicuously aligns itself with and actively supports all atrocities perpetrated by the occupation, encompassing the ruthless killing of children and civilians, forced displacement of residents, and the systematic destruction of civilian life in the Gaza Strip.

“We call on all nations across the globe, especially those supported ending the Zionist fascist aggression against the children and defenseless civilians in the United Nations General Assembly, to expose the unjust and criminal policies of the American administration. We implore them to take a resolute stand against these policies and lend their support to our Palestinian people’s pursuit of freedom and self-determination.”“Press Statement,” Hamas Online Telegram Channel, December 30, 2023.