Israel and Hamas at war, day 107 | Hamas admits ‘errors’ during October 7 attack

Palestinian Hamas says in a document released Sunday that its October 7 attack on Israel was “a necessary step” against the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian Territories, and acknowledges that the “chaos” led to “mistakes.”

The Islamist movement, in power in Gaza since 2007, calls for an end to “Israeli aggression”, affirms that the “Palestinian people” can “decide on the future” of the coastal territory and rejects “international or Israeli projects”.

In this nearly twenty-page document, the first of its kind, Hamas, considered a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union and Israel, says it wants to deliver “its version of the facts”.

While its October 7 attack against Israel led to the death of 1,140 people, the majority civilians, according to an AFP count based on official Israeli figures, Hamas insists on the fact of “having done its best to avoid harming civilians.”

“Mistakes may have been made during the implementation of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, due to the sudden collapse of the security and military apparatus along the border between Israel and the Gaza Strip,” assures Hamas.

“Avoiding harm to civilians, especially children, women and the elderly is a religious and moral obligation of the fighters of the al-Qassam brigades,” he continues, mentioning its armed wing.

Investigations are underway in Israel after reports of sexual violence.

More than 25,000 Palestinians killed in Gaza, says Hamas

The Israeli army continues to shell the Gaza Strip on Sunday, where the human toll exceeded 25,000 deaths according to Hamas, at 107^e day of the war for control of the small Palestinian territory, which is exacerbating regional tensions.

Israel must “ensure that Gaza no longer poses a threat”, which “contradicts the demand for Palestinian sovereignty”, repeated its Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a new rejection of American, European and UN calls for the creation of a Palestinian state.

On the ground, Hamas, which took power in Gaza in 2007, reported numerous air strikes and artillery fire, particularly in Khan Younes, the large southern city, now the epicenter of the fighting.

According to the Palestinian Islamist movement, 178 people have died in the last 24 hours in these operations, with the Israeli army announcing that it had “eliminated terrorists” in Khan Younes.

The army is also carrying out operations around Jabaliya, in northern Gaza, according to witnesses.

In southern Israel, sirens warning of rockets fired from Gaza rang out in the community village of Kissoufim.

“Little oxygen”

The army said on Saturday that it had discovered a tunnel in Khan Younes where “around twenty hostages” were locked up “without daylight”, with “little oxygen and terrible humidity”. The soldiers found drawings there made by a five-year-old captive child.

The air and ground offensive carried out by Israel to “annihilate” Hamas in Gaza killed 25,105 people, the vast majority civilians, and injured 62,681, the Palestinian movement’s Ministry of Health said on Sunday.

At least 1.7 of the approximately 2.4 million inhabitants of the small besieged territory have had to leave their homes, according to the UN, and the population lacks everything, exposed to the risk of famine and epidemics, warns the UN.

According to the Hamas health ministry, there has been “no progress” in increasing humanitarian aid to Gaza.

On Sunday, dozens of displaced people, cans in hand, waited during a water distribution organized by Doctors Without Borders in Rafah, in the far south of Gaza, where hundreds of thousands of displaced people took refuge, noted the AFP.

Hamas leader Ismaïl Haniyeh, based in Qatar, discussed Saturday in Turkey with the head of Turkish diplomacy, Hakan Fidan, the “establishment of a ceasefire in Gaza as quickly as possible, the increased humanitarian aid, release of hostages and a two-state solution for permanent peace,” according to diplomatic sources on Sunday.

The Netanyahu government remains deaf to international calls for a humanitarian ceasefire, vowing to prolong the war “until total victory” against Hamas, classified as terrorist by the United States and the European Union.

In Tel Aviv, thousands of Israelis demonstrated on Saturday to demand the departure of the prime minister, accused of wanting above all to stay in power.

Iranian threats

The war is exacerbating tensions between Israel and Hamas’s allies within the “axis of resistance” which also includes Iran, Lebanese Hezbollah and the Yemeni Houthi rebels.

Iran has threatened Israel with reprisals after accusing it of killing five Iranian “military advisers” in a strike in Damascus on Saturday.

The same day, in western Iraq, a new attack targeted a base housing American troops, claimed by the “Islamic Resistance in Iraq”, a nebula of pro-Iran fighters.

On the Israeli-Lebanese border, where there have been daily exchanges of fire between Israeli soldiers and Hezbollah fighters since October 7, a civilian and a fighter were killed on Saturday in an Israeli strike.

And the United States launched new strikes on Saturday against Houthi sites, in the face of repeated attacks on merchant ships by these rebels off the coast of Yemen.

The West Bank, Palestinian territory occupied by Israel since 1967, is experiencing a resurgence of violence, at a level not seen in nearly 20 years. The Israeli army has carried out deadly operations there in recent days and destroyed two family homes in Hebron belonging to Palestinian fighters.

According to the Palestinian Authority, since October 7 at least 364 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli soldiers or settlers in the West Bank, separated from Gaza by Israeli territory.