A brief moment from a live event in Qatar is ricocheting across Israeli social media: senior Hamas figure Khaled Mashaal appears to say a line that, in translation, sounds like a wish for a “free Israel,” before quickly pivoting back to the slogan he likely meant all along.
The clip, taken from Mashaal’s appearance at the Al Jazeera Forum in Doha on Sunday, shows him wrapping up a point, then delivering what viewers online are calling a verbal misfire. Hebrew subtitles on the circulating video render his words as: “To a free Israel, with God’s help.” Seconds later, he continues: “Thank you very much, and a free Palestine.”
The moment was quickly clipped and reposted by Israeli accounts, where it was treated as everything from a Freudian slip to a simple mix-up during a live exchange.
Mashaal's Doha moment
Mashaal’s Doha appearance itself was focused on Gaza and Hamas’s stance on disarmament. In remarks reported from the forum, he rejected calls for Hamas to lay down its weapons, arguing that disarmament would leave Palestinians as “an easy victim to be eliminated.”
No official transcript has been published that highlights the “free Israel” line, but the short clip is spreading fast, mainly because it captures an instant of confusion in the middle of a tightly controlled message.