The goal of Hamas’s October 7 massacres in southern Israel was to “change the entire equation,” bring permanent war to Israel’s borders and renew attention to the Palestinian cause, a senior member of the terror group’s politburo in Qatar said.
“What could change the equation was a great act, and without a doubt, it was known that the reaction to this great act would be big,” Khalil al-Hayya told The New York Times in an interview published Wednesday. “We had to tell people that the Palestinian cause would not die.”
On the morning of Saturday, October 7, some 3,000 Hamas terrorists stormed through the border fence into Israel, killing 1,400 people, most of them civilians, and taking at least 240 hostages.
Many of the victims were families murdered in their homes, and 260 people were mowed down at an outdoor music festival.
The onslaught was the deadliest attack in the country’s history, and in response, Israel vowed to eliminate Hamas from Gaza, where the group has ruled since 2007. An offensive has been launched from the air, ground and sea, with over 11,000 targets struck since the start of the war.