Hamas official Mousa Abu Marzouk claimed that Hamas did not anticipate Israel’s response to its October 7 massacre, according to a translation of an interview given to Egypt’s Alghad TV on Thursday by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI).
“When the [al-Qassam] brigades did what they did on October 7," the interviewer asked, "did they have any expectations regarding the consequences of the attack?” Marzouk responded that nobody had anticipated Israel’s response.
“Nobody in the whole world expected them to be so barbaric,” Marzouk said. “And in such violation of all international laws, treaties, and norms. Nobody expected the [Israeli response] to be so barbaric because, ultimately, the resistance fights soldiers. It is not fighting civilians with planes and tanks.”
The same Hamas official claimed in October that terror tunnels had been constructed to protect Hamas terrorists and that it was Israel's and the United Nation's responsibility to protect Palestinian civilian lives.
The IDF has been forced to fight on Gazan terrain as Hamas has a large amount of military infrastructure built within civilian areas of Gaza. Notably, terror tunnels used by Hamas have been located under hospitals and the UNRWA headquarters.
Despite evacuations in Gaza, the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry has claimed that over 30,000 Palestinians have been killed since Israel began operations.
Senior Hamas Official Mousa Abu Marzouk: Nobody Could Have Anticipated the Consequences of October 7; We Did Not Expect a Barbaric World War against Us, in Violation of International Law #Hamas #Palestinians #October7massacre pic.twitter.com/H9x95vPk5b
— MEMRI (@MEMRIReports) February 25, 2024
The interviewer prompted again, asking “What would you have done if you had expected these consequences?”
Ignoring the question, which seemed to ask Marzouk if Hamas would have attacked on October 7 if it had known that Israel would respond the way it has, Marzouk said, “Nobody expected that the Western powers, the US and Britain, would wage a war against civilians. Nobody had expected that.
Taking the initiative, Marzouk asked the interviewer: “Do you think that anyone in the world could have expected there to be a world war? In the sense that America, Germany, Britain, France, Italy, and Spain – all of them would gather armies, and the US would send two of the largest aircraft carriers to the Mediterranean Sea, all in order to fight a movement?
“By what logic could anyone have expected that the US and the entire West would unite without exception to wage war against a movement? Who could have expected this?"
Western response to October 7
Only a day after Hamas launched its massive terror attack, where they murdered over 1200 people and kidnapped over 240 more, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced that the US would move a carrier strike group closer to Israel. This strike group included US would move a carrier strike group closer to Israel. This strike group included the USS Gerald Ford carrier.
The Gerald Ford, spanning 333 meters in length and 78 meters in width, is the first completely new US aircraft carrier in four decades, Walla! reported. It'sIt is designed with enhancements to reduce radar signature and to boost efficiency.
The mass Western response to October 7, which Marzouk claimed could not have been anticipated, may also be connected to the large number of foreign nationals killed and kidnapped during the attack.
One now-released hostage, 3-year-old American citizen Abigail Idan, had drawn significant attention from US President Joe Biden, who discussed her captivity with Qatar's Emir. Abigail’s parents Roy and Smadar were murdered on October 7, and she made one of 40 children abducted to Gaza.
In December, the White House confirmed that America estimates that eight US citizens are still being held in Gaza, according to Reuters.