Hamas, in 1st response to protests, claims they are against Israel, not itself

Hamas issues its first official response to the demonstration against the organization, claiming they are actually against Israel and that “there are those who are trying to divert the spontaneous protests to serve the occupation’s agenda.”

Senior Hamas official Basem Naim tells the Qatari channel Al-Araby that “demonstrations are expected from people facing extermination, against war and destruction… People are calling to stop the aggression, but the enemy and other parties with political agendas are diverting the spontaneous protests to serve the occupation’s agenda and trying to portray it as if the demonstrators are against the resistance” — a reference to Hamas and other terror groups in Gaza.

This is Hamas’s first on-the-record response to the anti-Hamas and anti-war demonstrations in Gaza in the last few days.