Palestinian militant group Hamas on Sunday defended its October 7 attacks against Israel but admitted to “faults” and called for an end to “Israeli aggression” in Gaza, where the health ministry said the death toll passed 25,000.
Southern Gaza is the latest focus of Israel’s battle to destroy the Islamist group responsible for the deadliest attack in the country’s history.
In its first public report on the attacks that began the war, Hamas said they were a “necessary step” against Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories, and a way to secure release of Palestinian prisoners.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later vowed “complete victory” and said his government would not accept Hamas’s conditions for releasing hostages still held in Gaza.
Hamas’s 16-page report admitted “some faults happened… due to the rapid collapse of the Israeli security and military system, and the chaos caused along the border areas”.
The war began when gunmen broke through Gaza’s militarised border to attack Israelis and foreigners in the streets, in their homes and at an outdoor rave party.
This resulted in the deaths of about 1,140 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
Accounts of sexual violence emerged but the scarcity of survivor testimonies and a lack of forensic evidence made it difficult to assess their scale.
Militants seized about 250 hostages during the attacks, and Israel says around 132 remain in Gaza.