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October 7 blitz on Israel helped 'shatter status quo' on Palestine — Hamas

Resistance group succeeded in putting Palestinian issue "back on the table", senior Hamas official Khalil al-Hayya tells NY Times.

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In an assault of startling breadth, Hamas gunmen rolled into as many as 22 locations outside Gaza, including Israeli towns and other communities as far as 24 kilometres from the Gaza fence. / Photo: AA

The Palestinian resistance group Hamas has said that its October 7 blitz on Israel that surprised its arch-enemy was orchestrated to break the status quo and put Palestine question "back on the table."

Khalil al-Hayya, a member of Hamas' leadership, told the New York Times on Wednesday that the group's unprecedented assault on Israel was intended to shatter the status quo and open a new chapter in its fight against Israel.

"We succeeded in putting the Palestinian issue back on the table, and now no one in the region is experiencing calm," he said, according to the US newspaper.

In an assault of startling breadth, Hamas gunmen rolled into as many as 22 locations outside Gaza, including towns and other communities as far as 24 kilometres from the Gaza fence. In some places they are said to have gunned down many soldiers as Israel's military scrambled to muster a response.

And upon return to Gaza, they also took along some 240 hostages, including Israeli military personnel and civilians.

Since then, Israel has heavily bombarded Gaza from air, land and sea, killing more than 10,500 Palestinians, 40 percent of them children, wounding thousands and displacing over a million people in the tiny coastal enclave.

It has also imposed a harsh blockade on essential supplies, including food grains, water, fuel, and medicine.

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Hamas determined to inflict losses on Israel

Saleh al-Arouri, an exiled Hamas commander, told Hamas-affiliated Al-Aqsa TV on Wednesday that its fighters are determined to inflict losses on Israeli forces in ground battles in Gaza.

"The more [Israel] spreads and expands on the ground, the deeper its losses will become", he said.

A clip from the Hamas video released on Wednesday showed fighters in Gaza running past piles of debris and stopping to fire shoulder-propelled rockets at Israeli tanks.

Another showed them shooting rifles from perches behind buildings and dumpsters.

UN officials and G7 world powers stepped up appeals for a humanitarian pause in the war to assist civilians in Gaza, where necessities including food, medicine and fuel are running out.

Negotiations mediated by Qatar, where several Hamas political leaders are based, are trying to secure the release of 10 to 15 hostages in exchange for a one- to two-day humanitarian pause in Gaza, a source briefed on the talks said on Wednesday.