Senior Hamas official Mahmoud al-Zahar said Monday that Israel has no right to exist, adding almost in the same breath that Hamas leaders would be willing to meet with US President Joe Biden so as to further the Palestinian cause.
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In a rare interview with Britain's Sky News from his Gaza home, Zahar, 76, insisted that Hamas, which took over the Strip in 2007 in a military coup, emerged from the 11-day conflict with Israel with the upper hand, explaining that Hamas' achieved "a strategic and symbolic victory."
"The new element [in the most recent hostilities] is the degree of the resistance movement, particularly in Gaza, to attack the Israeli targets at very important points, including most of the overcrowded area in the civilian society. So for how long the Israeli will accept that, I think this is the main issue."
He denied that Hamas was firing rockets from within populated areas of Gaza, effectively using the Palestinian population as human shields – action defined as a war crime – despite multiple videos showing Hamas operatives doing just that.
"No. No single rockets were sent from a civilian area," he asserted. "Most of the rockets were from the border."
As for the fact that Hamas and the Islamic Jihad were targeting Israeli communities, Zahar, one of Hamas' co-founders, said the rocket fire was "not [aimed] against Israeli communities, but against Israeli occupation. This is against Israeli aggression."
Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad fired over 4,300 rockets and mortar shells at southern and central Israel during the flare-up, claiming the lives of 13 Israelis – one soldier and 12 civilians – and leaving some 700 wounded.
He then explained that Hanas was, in fact, not fighting Jews: "We are not against Jews because Jews were living [in] this area for many centuries. I'm speaking about [the] occupation."
Asked if the Egyptian-brokered ceasefire between Hamas and Israel would hold, he said: "Yes, I think the most important point is the degree of impact on both sides."
"Up to this moment, [the] ceasefire is acceptable from our side and from the other side. For how long? I think nobody on both sides is looking for escalation more than what had been before. So I believe that it will continue."
He also said that Hamas leaders would be willing to meet with Biden. "Why not? Mr. Biden, yes, he is supporting Israel but I think we have a mission as Palestinian people to speak to him frankly."
Mark Stone, Sky's Middle East correspondent who was conducting the interview, then asked Zahar, "Does the State of Israel have the right to exist?"
"No." Zahar retorted. "You are coming from America and you take my house. You came from Britain and you took my brother's house. This [Israel] is a settlement. You are not a citizen. We are the owners of this land. This is an Arabic area. This is well-known as an Islamic area, well-known."
Al-Zahar, a former Hamas foreign minister, noted that the Islamist group believes that the two-state process was no longer relevant and blamed Israel for its failure.
"Practically, that was proved," he said. "It is not my assessment. Go and ask [PA President] Mahmoud Abbas 'are you now saying a two-state solution is viable or not?'... He will say no... The Israelis are not going to accept a two-state solution.
"People went and they sat down at the table and signed an agreement and so on and failed. You are now asking me to practice a failed process?"
Asked why Hamas was spending its money on missiles instead of on and civilian needs, he said, "Give me one example in the world where they have no military ministry to defend themselves? We are here protecting ourselves against aggression, against the Israeli aggression. So if it is forbidden, this is hypocrisy."
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May's conflict saw the IDF destroy more than 6,500 terrorist targets, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad operational headquarters, weapon production sites and arsenals, and over 100 kilometers (62 miles) of Hamas' infamous gird of terror tunnels. At least 225 terrorists were killed in the strikes, including top Hamas and PIJ commanders.
