As the war between Israel and Hamas continues to heat up amid a ground incursion into the Gaza Strip, the leader of the terrorist group made an appeal to the international community as well as those fighting against Israel. In an appearance on a Lebanese news network, Ismail Haniyeh, who heads Hamas, characterized Israel’s response to Hamas’ surprise October 7 attack as the “new holocaust” and called on his allies to stop the Jewish state from retaliating.

In a speech that aired on Mayadeen Network and other television outlets, he also urged intellectuals and strategists to discuss the era after Israel’s occupation of the Gaza Strip ends, predicting that the Jewish state’s fight against the terrorist group will soon end.

"I call upon all the intellectuals and strategic experts to discuss the post-occupation phase, because its demise is inevitable. This occupier will not be able to recover, because of the strategic blow and resounding defeat that befell it.”

Haniyeh continued, urging other nations to pressure the Jewish state to cease its military incursion into Gaza.

"I call on everybody – all the free people of the world, all the friendly countries, all the brotherly [Arab] countries, and all the allies – to exert all the necessary pressure, in all directions and in all forums, in order to end the aggression against Gaza, to stop this war against our children, women, and elderly, our mosques, our universities, and our homes. This brutal aggression must stop. This new holocaust must stop.”

#ICYMI: Hamas Leader Ismail Haniyeh: Gaza Bombing Is a New Holocaust; We Need the Blood of the Women, Children, and Elderly in Gaza So It Awakens the Spirit of Resolve within Us #Hamas #Gaza #Antisemitism pic.twitter.com/GBxklyRSSF

— MEMRI (@MEMRIReports) October 29, 2023

Haniyeh then addressed the thousands of Palestinians – both combatants and noncombatants – who have perished during the fighting, implying that their deaths were a necessary sacrifice to inspire jihadists in the ongoing struggle to eliminate Israel as a Jewish state.

I have said this before, and I say it time again: The blood of the women, children, and elderly… I am not saying that this blood is calling for your [help]. We are the ones who need this blood, so it awakens within us the revolutionary spirit, so it awakens within us resolve, so it awakens within us the spirit of challenge, and [pushes us] to move forward.

This comes after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that Israel’s military campaign against Hamas would be “long and hard” and made it clear that his objective is the “complete destruction of Hamas’ military and government capabilities.”

Against this backdrop, the Israel Defense Forces’ (IDF) ground operations have been expanded, accompanied by air and sea bombardments. Daniel Hagari, IDF spokesperson, explained that Israel is “advancing in the stages of the war, according to our plan.”

Haniyeh’s contention that Hamas needs the blood of Palestinian children, women, and elderly folks to further Hamas’ agenda, which is to eradicate the Jews in Israel, demonstrates just how callous he and other jihadist leaders are to the plight of the civilians caught in the crossfire of this brutal war. He characterizes their deaths as a motivational tool for terrorists fighting for the organization.

What is truly abhorrent about this reality is that Hamas brought about the deaths and suffering occurring in the Gaza Strip and has been doing so since it took control of the region after being supposedly elected in 2007. There might be reasonable criticisms of the Israeli government and military in how it conducts the war against Hamas in Gaza. But in the end, they are not the ones who attacked first, deliberately killing innocent civilians.

In this way, Hamas has become one of the biggest obstacles to peace between Israel and the Palestinians and will continue to do so as long as it remains intact. The question is: What happens after the terrorist group is eliminated?