Palestinian militant group Hamas on Sunday (January 21) released a 16-page report justifying its October 7 on Israel as a ‘necessary step’ that was taken against Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories. This is Hamas’ first public report about the October 7 attacks which resulted in death of more than 1000 persons.
Though it justified its attack, the group admitted that “some faults happened… due to the rapid collapse of the Israeli security and military system, and the chaos caused along the border areas with Gaza”.
Hamas has demanded that Israel stop it Gaza offensive and withdraw its forces if it wants hostages to be released.
Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has categorically refused this.
“In exchange for the release of our hostages, Hamas demands an end to the war, the withdrawal of our forces from Gaza, the release of all murderers…. If we accept this, our soldiers have fallen in vain. If we accept this, we won’t be able to guarantee the safety of our citizens,” Netanyahu said as quoted by AFP
US makes first estimate of Hamas death toll
The United States intelligence agencies have made first estimate of death toll among Hamas fighters, Wall Street Journal reported. The news outlet reported that the estimate, mentioned in classified documents say that Israel has been able to eliminate 20 to 30 per cent of Hamas fighters in the Gaza Strip. But this falls way short of Israeli aim of completely eliminating the militant group in the ongoing war which has seen thousands of civilian deaths.
The news report has also said that Hamas still has enough firepower to continue attacking Israeli forces inside Gaza for months. Report of the estimate has come just when Israel has had to withdraw thousands of its soldiers from Gaza in the face of mounting international pressure over civilian deaths.
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Hamas fighters attacked Israel on October 7 killing more than a thousand people. Israel then responded with overwhelming military response that included land assaults as well as air strikes. The conflict soon began claiming civilian lives and the death toll spiked. It has reached 25,000 now.
International pressure, particularly that from the United States has forced Israel to change it tactics. The US has pressured Israel to adopt a more surgical approach than an all-out war in order to minimise civilian casualties.
However, even after relentless military campaign and destruction of Hamas’ network of underground tunnels at many places in Gaza Strip, Israeli forces have not been able to eliminate Hamas completely. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly said that complete destruction of Hamas is Israel’s aim.
But the classified US intelligence report says that Israel hasn’t been able to fully achieve the stated aim, WSJ reports.
Besides, Hamas has changed tactics. It is attacking Israeli forces in small groups.
Israeli estimate of Hamas deaths is a little higher. It reportedly says that its forces have eliminated at least 30 per cent of the fighters.
(With inputs from agencies)
