Senior Hamas official Ghazi Hamad, who was one of the targets of the assassination attempt last week in Doha, Qatar, was interviewed by Al Jazeera on Wednesday evening.
Hamad is the second Hamas official to be interviewed since the strike, following a similar interview earlier this week with Taher al-Nunu, who was not among the targets.
Hamad described the situation in the meeting that Israel struck, recounting, "We were sitting to discuss the American proposal to end the war. Less than an hour later, we heard explosions and immediately realized it was an assassination attempt. As residents of Gaza, we recognize these sounds. We tried to flee the area as quickly as possible – and we succeeded."
A recent report in Hebrew media on Wednesday said that the IDF believes the decision to limit the force of the warheads on the missiles was what allowed the leaders to survive. Israel was reportedly concerned that a larger explosion, which could lead to greater collateral damage and the death of Qatari civilians, would seriously affect relations with both Qatar and the United States.
Hamad called the strikes an attack on the "entire nation."
"It's not just us who are being attacked, but the entire [Arab] nation," Hamad claimed. "Israel no longer has red lines. Netanyahu is talking about changing the face of the Middle East, and this requires an Arab response."
Hamad also responded to President Donald Trump's recent threats to Hamas if they do not free the remaining hostages, or deliberately put them in danger.
"We are not afraid of Trump's threats to unleash hell upon us," Hamad said. "We do not take orders from him on how to treat enemy prisoners. We treat them according to our own methods and according to our religion."
"Anyone who wants to release the hostages must order Netanyahu to close a prisoner exchange deal and stop the war," Hamad stated. Hamas refers to the hostages as "prisoners."
The Hamas leader also said that Hamas has lost trust in the U.S. as a negotiating partner.
"Our experience with the American mediator was bitter, and they had no credibility at all," Hamad told Al Jazeera.
"Every time we contacted them in one way or another – it turned out that they did not respect things, edited and changed clauses in the proposals when they were in contact with Israel," Hamad accused. "The Americans gave the proposal that Hamas discussed, and in the meantime, Trump gave them [Israel] permission to attack the Hamas delegation in Qatar."
Trump has denied being informed ahead of time by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of the assassination attempt. Netanyahu has also denied informing Trump before the strikes, saying it was an "independent" Israeli action.
With the appearance of both Hamad and al-Nunu, the evidence that Israel's strike was not successful appears stronger; however, Israeli analysts are waiting to see whether Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya, who was the main target, makes an appearance in the next few days.
Republished with permission from All Israel News.