Hamas denounces Human Rights Watch report of biased Oct. 7 narrative
3 Min Read
Hamas states that while the report started with an "injured" Israeli settler, HRW brushes off the over 120,000 killed to date in Palestine by "Israel".
-
A relative holds the body of a child killed in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, at a hospital morgue in Deir al-Balah, Tuesday, July 16, 2024. (AP)
A recent report by Human Rights Watch (HRW) has been denounced and rejected by the Palestinian Resistance, Hamas, for aligning with the Israeli Occupation's narrative of the October 7 events and blamed it for steering away from objective research - saying it damaged its own credibility.
In a statement on Wednesday, Hamas called on the organization to withdraw the report and issue an apology as a result for its bias and neglect of the pain endured by the Palestinian people at the hands of the occupation.
Hamas stated that while the report started with an "injured" Israeli settler, HRW brushes off the over 120,000 killed in Palestine to date by "Israel" and accuses it of failing to mention the mass destruction of the infrastructure.
The statement continued to say that the Palestinians have the right to resist the occupation and fight back against its crimes that have been entrenched in decades of war, murder, and torture. It also stressed that the occupation does not have the "right to self-defense" as it goes against international laws.
Bias against Palestinian detainees
When addressing the captives held by the Palestinian Resistance, Hamas pointed out that the report displayed bias by stressing their release and calling on nations like Qatar, Turkey, and Iran to put pressure on the Palestinian resistance to free them.
However, hundreds of Palestinian detainees —men, women, and children— who are subjected to maltreatment, starvation, torture, and humiliation in Israeli prisons were not demanded to be set free, as Hamas said that the report even justified their imprisonment by the occupation and classified them as suspects in the October 7 attacks.
Read next: 'Israel' using starvation of civilians as warfare method in Gaza: HRW
The Resistance movement also called out the report's propaganda and claims of ill-treatment by the Resistance, saying that anyone who saw pictures of the Israeli captives after being released would be able to point out the lies in the HRW report of alleged torture by the Palestinian Resistance.
More importantly, Hamas spoke of the highly-contested and baseless claims rape and sexual violence claims against Israeli women, regarding which the HRW admitted in its report that it couldn't gather proof through witnesses or interviews. Yet, the organization continued to blame Hamas.
Hamas concluded by reaffirming its commitment to the values of Islam and its respect for international humanitarian law, highlighting the price Palestinians have been paying as a result of "Israel's" violation of the law.
It added that after the war is over, it will review any wrongdoing and hold anyone who strays from its principles accountable. It also stressed that it does not claim infallibility for itself or for all Palestinian factions.
