Senior level figures in Hamas claim October 7th began the countdown till Israel’s demise and credit the October 7th massacre as resulting in new nations recognizing the Palestinian right to statehood.
By Rachel Avraham
According to a recent report published by MEMRI, “Hamas senior official Fawzi Barhoum, in an address on Al-Jazeera Network (Qatar) on October 7, 2025, marking the second anniversary of the “eternal Al-Aqsa Flood Battle,” quoted the Quranic verse: “Fight them, Allah will torment them by your hands, disgrace them, give you victory over them, and heal the hearts of the believers.” He described the October 7 attack as a “major turning point” that exposed and isolated the Zionist occupation, adding: “It began the real countdown to the end of its existence on earth.””
Barhoum declared, “”We emphasize once again that the Al-Aqsa Flood on October 7 was a historic response to the conspiracies to annihilate the Palestinian cause. It was not just a battle that exposed the fragility of the occupation’s illusion of security, but rather, a major turning point that led to the beginning of a process to expose, criminalize, and isolate the Zionist occupation, in the region and the world. It began the real countdown to the end of its existence on earth.”
One may ponder, why would a senior level Hamas terrorist claim that October 7th marked the beginning of Israel’s demise if a cease-fire deal is set to take place? MEMRI claimed, “Spokesmen for the designated terrorist organization Hamas are attributing credit for the announcements of recognition for a Palestinian state by France, the UK, Canada, and Australia to their group.”
According to MEMRI, “As with the previous wave of recognition, in May 2025, Hamas hastened to credit its armed struggle against Israel, and particularly its October 7, 2023 attack, which it named the Al-Aqsa Flood and during which its operatives murdered 1,200 men, women, and children and kidnapped over 240 people, children and adults, and took them to Gaza. Hamas spokesmen have stressed that they have no intention of abandoning their terror activity or of giving up their weapons, which “constitute the Palestinian cause.””
MEMRI added, “Qatar, Hamas’s patron which provides it with political and financial support, is also promoting this narrative, via its government media and on social media. Qatari journalists and the Qatari government press have published articles and posts on social media praising the October 7 terror attacks and stating that recognition of a Palestinian state at this time provides international legitimacy to the resistance, that is, the Palestinian factions’ armed struggle and terror attacks against Israel.”
As noted, Hamas and its senior officials quickly welcomed the recognition of a Palestinian state by the UK, Canada, and Australia, framing it as the result of the armed struggle against Israel. In an announcement published September 21, 2025, as soon as the countries announced their recognition, Hamas wrote on its English-language account on Telegram that it was “a deserved outcome of our people’s struggle, steadfastness, and sacrifices on the path to liberation and return.” It went on to call on the countries to take “practical steps” that would lead to the end of the war in Gaza and emphasizing the legitimacy of its struggle.
It stated: “The resistance and struggle of our Palestinian people against the most brutal occupation in modern history is a natural right guaranteed by international law. The nations of the world must support our people in confronting this criminal occupation until they achieve their right to self-determination and establish their independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.”
Hamas political bureau member Ghazi Hamad also said, just before these countries announced their recognition of a Palestinian state, that before October 7 the countries that were now going to announce this had not dared to do so, and that the attack had forced the world to open its eyes to the Palestinian cause.
He went on to stress that Hamas had no intention of laying down its arms: “I’ll say it very clearly and in a nutshell: The weapons constitute the Palestinian cause. Our weapons equal our cause. We have been raised since childhood… I’m not talking just about [Hamas], but about all Palestinians, and all members of the Palestinian factions, who bore arms, fought, waged jihad, were martyred, and irrigated the soil with their blood. The [weapons] have always been our main force in confronting the occupation. Therefore, there has always been a Palestinian consensus about this. No Palestinian is saying now that the resistance must end, because surrendering our weapons means the end of the resistance, and the end of the Palestinian cause.”
Photo from Fars Media Corporation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamas#/media/File:2013_Izz_ad-Din_al-Qassam_Brigades_exercise_(8).jpg
