Hamas Leader Vows Terror Group Will Rise Again as October 7 Attack Loses Public Support in Gaza

Latest Developments

The Qatar-based Hamas leader Khaled Mashal said that the Iran-backed terrorist organization would rise “like a phoenix” despite heavy losses after a year of fighting Israel in the Gaza Strip, Reuters reported on October 7. Mashal, who is estimated to be worth more than $4 billion, said that the group continues to recruit new fighters and manufacture weapons.

“Palestinian history is made of cycles,” Mashal said during an interview with Reuters. “We go through phases where we lose martyrs and we lose part of our military capabilities, but then the Palestinian spirit rises again, like the phoenix, thanks to God.”

Israel believes that Hamas has been dismantled as a fighting force, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying during his September 27 speech to the United Nations that Israel had destroyed 23 of Hamas’s 24 battalions in Gaza and was now focused on “mopping up Hamas’s remaining fighting capabilities.” Still, Hamas was able to launch four rockets into Israel on October 7 as the Jewish state marked the first anniversary of the Hamas atrocities in the south of the country.

Among Palestinians, public support for the mass assault has waned, Reuters reported on October 8, with some Gaza residents interviewed blaming Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar for failing to consider the destruction brought about by Israel’s response. An opinion poll of Gaza and West Bank residents published on September 17 by the Ramallah-based Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PSR) showed for the first time that the majority of Gazans opposed the October 7 terrorist attack on Israel, with 57 percent responding that the attack was the wrong decision, compared to 39 percent who still expressed support for the attack — a dramatic decrease from PSR’s June poll. Support for the attack dropped for the first time in both the West Bank and Gaza, with 64 percent of respondents supporting the attack, compared to 73 percent in June.

Likewise, only 36 percent of Gazans said that they would support the continued rule of Hamas compared to 46 percent in June, opting instead for the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority.

Expert Analysis

“The messianic views espoused by Mashal are what inspired Hamas to set the region on fire. The terrorist group has certainly succeeded in turning parts of Gaza to ash, but expectations of rising like a phoenix seem far-fetched as Hamas’s leader Yahya Sinwar hides in tunnels like a rat.” — David May, FDD Research Manager and Senior Research Analyst

“I suspect that your average Palestinian in Gaza found Mashal’s words patronizing. Mashal invoked Palestinian suffering, yet the decision-makers in Hamas have purposely brought the wrath of the Israeli military upon Gaza. Rather than discussing a metaphorical rise from the ashes, Mashal and his Hamas henchmen should be begging for forgiveness from the Palestinian people for the dire circumstances they have created in Gaza.” — Joe Truzman, Senior Research Analyst and Editor at FDD’s Long War Journal

Related Analysis

“Qatar Must Extradite a Hamas Terrorist,” by Jonathan Schanzer and Natalie Ecanow

“Hamas Leader Yahya Sinwar Reportedly Resurfaces After Weeks of Silence,” FDD Flash Brief

“U.S. Treasury Sanctions Additional Hamas Financiers on First Anniversary of October 7 Massacre,” FDD Flash Brief

“10 Things Washington Should Do to Hold Hamas Accountable,” by Richard Goldberg