‘They’re Practically Recognizing Hamas,’ Top Terror Group Official Says of Biden Administration
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by Jack Elbaum
Senior Hamas leader Khaled Mashal. Photo: Screenshot
Senior Hamas leader Khaled Mashal told The New York Times in an interview released on Tuesday that the Biden administration is “practically recognizing Hamas,” the Palestinian terrorist group that rules Gaza.
Mashal was the chairman of the Hamas Political Bureau from 1996 until 2017, when he was replaced by Ismail Haniyeh. He sat down with the Times for an interview in Qatar, where he spoke about how the terrorist organization sees itself as its war with Israel enters its 11th month.
His message was clear: Winning for Hamas means surviving. And it increasingly looks like that will happen.
“The [original] Israeli-American vision wasn’t talking about the day after the war, but the day after Hamas,” Mashal said.
However, he continued, the US now says “we’re waiting for Hamas’s response,” when it comes to long-term ceasefire deals to stop the fighting in Gaza.
“They’re practically recognizing Hamas,” Mashal concluded.
The top Hamas official also said he believes the terror group now has the “upper hand” in the war because it has brought Israel to “a state of attrition” — a far cry from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s calls for “total victory.”
On the one hand, Mashal’s statements seem to reflect the way the war has transformed over the past 11 months: from one in which it was a foregone conclusion that Hamas would no longer govern Gaza to one where it seems the Islamist group may have at least some role in the enclave’s future.
On the other hand, his comments reflect the narrative Hamas wants to project to the world that Israel is not winning. While the narrative is incorrect concerning the actual war, as the Israeli military has decimated Hamas’s battalions since October, Mashal indicated that Hamas feels it can survive if it is able to properly maneuver diplomatically, rhetorically, and on the world stage.
The Institute for the Study of War published a short analysis of the interview. “Hamas is projecting public confidence that it will survive in the Gaza Strip as part of an information operation to erode Israeli will to sustain the war,” it wrote. “Hamas cannot defeat Israel militarily in this war and is instead trying to compel Israel to accept defeat.”
Mashal was also asked about the group’s decision to launch its surprise Oct. 7 attack on Israel, where Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists killed 1,200 people, kidnapped 251 hostages, and launched a war that has had a devastating impact on Gazan civilians.
Mashal dismissed the idea that Hamas’s decision was the wrong one, despite the war that followed.
“He acknowledged that the assault had caused enormous destruction but said it was a ‘price’ Palestinians must pay for freedom,” the Times wrote.
“As a Palestinian, my responsibility is to fight and resist until liberation,” Mashal said.
Last month, Mashal called for a resumption of suicide bombings in the West Bank. According to Arabic media, Mashal said during an address at a conference in Istanbul, Turkey that Palestinians should implement “actual resistance against the Zionist entity [Israel].” He also reportedly said that Hamas wanted to “return to [suicide] operations.”
Mourning the killing of Haniyeh in Tehran on July 31, Mashal added, “The enemy has opened the conflict on all fronts, seeking us all, whether we fight or not.”
