 "Hamas political leader Musa Abu Marzouk (R) shakes hands with a Hamas militant as he visits the mourning tent of senior Hamas commander Mohammed Abu Shammala (seen in posters). File Image / Reuters")
As Israel and Hamas agree to the first phase of the ceasefire proposed by US President Donald Trump, Hamas co-founder, Mousa Abu Marzouk, lost his temper during a TV interview after he was questioned on the aftermath of October 7. Marzouk lost his temper during an interview with Pan-Arabic Ghad TV on Friday.
During the interview, Marzouk, who lives in Qatar and serves as the longtime foreign relations chief, attempted to justify his organisation’s crimes by saying Hamas “fulfilled its national duty” and acted as “resistance to occupation” when asked about the October 7 attack. According to The Jerusalem Post, the host went on to ask whether Hamas attacks had helped the Palestinian cause and if they had achieved anything meaningful for the Palestinians.
“Was what you did on Oct. 7 to lead the Palestinians to liberation?” the host asked in the interview Friday night. Marzouk went on to bristle and insisted that he was disrespectful and that a small group of fighters could never “liberate” Palestine on its own. “No sane person would claim that on Oct. 7, with just a thousand or so fighters, it was possible to liberate Palestine,” he said.
The escalation
The journalist continued saying: “I am asking you the questions that are being asked on the streets of Palestine by the residents of Gaza.” The exchange eventually grew tense, and Marzouk snapped. “These are your questions. Show some respect for yourself. I don’t want to talk to you. I don’t want to see you. Cut it out. Cut it out. Go to hell,” he said.
The Hamas official’s comments on the Egyptian news channel soon spread like wildfire on social media since it came at a time when both Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire in Gaza. Interestingly, many Arab commentators saw his on-air outburst as a signal of a widening rift among the organisation’s leadership after two years of war.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsJamal Nazzal, a spokesperson for the Palestinian political and nationalist movement Fatah, eventually slammed Marzouk’s remarks. Nazzal said his comments were “a disgrace that exposes the moral and political bankruptcy of a crumbling group that can no longer look people in the eye,” The Jerusalem Post reported.
Earlier this year, Marzouk expressed regret over the Oct. 7 attacks. He told The New York Times that he would not have supported the attack if he had known of the havoc it would wreak on Gaza. “If it was expected that what happened would happen, there wouldn’t have been Oct. 7,” he said.
Interestingly, multiple media reports described the Hamas official as a “billionaire”, though his exact fortune remains unclear. In a statement posted after The New York Times’ story, Hamas said that the comments were “incorrect” and taken out of context.