WATCH: Hamas official storms off CNN after being pressed on Oct. 7, blame for Gazan deaths - Danielle Greyman-Kennard

 

by Danielle Greyman-Kennard

CNN Anchor Jim Sciutto asked Osama Hamdan: “Does Hamas today regret the October 7 terror attacks?”

 

Hamas official Osama Hamdan attends a press conference, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Beirut, Lebanon June 29, 2024.

(photo credit: MOHAMED AZAKIR/REUTERS)

Senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan stormed off an interview with CNN anchor Jim Sciutto on Saturday night when the exchange got heated on the topics of October 7 and the terror group's responsibility for the deaths of innocent Palestinians in Gaza.

Hamdan appeared remotely from Doha where he was expected to discuss the ongoing ceasefire-hostage deal negotiations - discussions of which Hamas has expressed scepticism on. 

Sciutto began by thanking Hamdan for joining him and asked, “Does Hamas today regret the October 7 terror attacks?” given the large death toll the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry claimed.

I pressed senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan on whether Hamas accepts any responsibility for the loss of civilian life in Gaza, which residents have told CNN they believe it does. He wouldn’t answer and instead took me on a history lesson of events he didn’t know I witnessed… pic.twitter.com/L3UUzHrVPb

— Jim Sciutto (@jimsciutto) August 17, 2024

“Well, it seems to me you are giving the Israelis the right to kill the Palestinians,” Hamdan dodged, not addressing the mention of the hundreds of civilians murdered by Hamas on October 7.

“When you ask if we feel regret for what Israel has done. You have to understand that Israel has been killing the Palestinians for the last 76 years, and when the Palestinians react against the occupation, who failed the Palestinians, who failed agreements, who continue undermining the peace process and trying to take over all the Palestinian lands…talking in public about kicking out 2 million Palestinians from the West Bank to east Jordan…All this is the right for Israel and when the Palestinians react against the occupation, they have to regret….”

Hamas official Osama Hamdan speaks during a press conference, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Beirut, Lebanon June 29, 2024. (credit: MOHAMED AZAKIR/REUTERS)

Despite Hamdan’s claim that Israel is seeking to take over “all the Palestinian lands,” Israel disengaged from Gaza in 2005, and numerous two-state solutions have been offered to Palestinian leadership throughout Israel’s history as an established state.

According to Al Jazeera, Hamdan attended university in Jordan before eventually joining Hamas in Iran in 1993. From 1998 until 2009, he represented the terror group in Lebanon before assuming the Headship of the International Relations Department for Hamas in 2009.

Accusations of bias versus Scuitto's record of reporting

As Hamdan continued to make claims that Israel had been killing Palestinians “by thousands,” Sciuttio interrupted the Hamas official’s rant, adding his own experience as a seasoned journalist. 

Despite Hamdan’s accusations, the Jerusalem Post was able to confirm that the reporter has commented on Israel’s military actions multiple times and the civilian casualties resulting from said actions.

Danielle Greyman-Kennard

Source:https://www.jpost.com/israel-hamas-war/article-815165

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