Hamas deputy chief lies: We don’t target civilians, we only attacked IDF
Saleh al-Arouri claims terror group’s ‘policy’ is to spare civilians, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary; PA’s Abbas rejects harm to civilians ‘on both sides’
Gianluca Pacchiani is the Arab affairs reporter for The Times of Israel
In the wake of Saturday’s shocking assault on Israel, in which Hamas slaughtered at least 1,300 people, the vast majority of them civilians, the terror group has been faced with harsh international condemnation, as overwhelming evidence has emerged of its brutality.
In an untruthful statement issued on Thursday, Hamas’s deputy leader Saleh al-Arouri said that Hamas’s policy is to not target civilians, and that its attack on Saturday only targeted the IDF’s Gaza Division stationed along the border — despite incontrovertible proof that its terrorists systematically targeted and massacred non-combatants, including children and the elderly.
“We knew that there were [Israeli] plans to launch a massive attack against us after the [Jewish] holidays,” al-Arouri said, according to a report in the pro-Hamas Shehab news outlet. “We preempted it by surprising the commanders of the Southern Command,” which includes the Gaza Division. He provided no evidence that Israel was planning to attack Gaza.
Hamas has been scrambling to repair its image following broad international condemnation of its brutality.
On Wednesday, Al Jazeera broadcast footage purporting to show a woman and her two children being released from the terror group’s captivity.
The IDF said the video was filmed at the height of Hamas’s devastating onslaught, and that it had been released by the terror group in an attempt to “alter the truth through the theatrics of posting a propaganda video via its media mouthpieces,” referencing the Qatari broadcaster that has been accused of providing a platform to Hamas’s leaders, narrative and propaganda.
“The truth is clear and obvious, and its character will become clearer in the coming days. Hamas is worse than ISIS, and we will continue to strike it hard without stopping,” said the Israeli military’s Arabic-language spokesperson Avichay Adraee.
Also on Thursday, Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority, seemed to distance himself from the terror group’s brutality.
In a meeting in Amman with Jordan’s King Abdullah II, Abbas said that “the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) renounces violence and adheres to international legitimacy, peaceful popular resistance, and political action as a path to achieving our national goals.” The PLO is a Palestinian political body chaired by Abbas that controls the PA.
Abbas rejected “practices related to killing civilians or abusing them on both sides,” and called for “an immediate end to the comprehensive aggression against the Palestinian people,” and for the opening of humanitarian corridors to provide water and electricity to the blockaded Gaza Strip.
