In one of his first interviews since coming out of hiding, Hamas' Gaza leader Yahya Sinwar predicted the ongoing conflict with Israel was not going to end.
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"The battle between us and Israel will continue forever," he told VICE News.
Echoing the general Palestinian terrorist group's radical approach to any form of reconciliation with the Jewish state, he went on to explain he could not see peace ever being a real possibility because Israel was "occupying our land, displacing our people, confiscating land and attacking sacred places."
Several weeks ago, Sinwar completely disappeared from the public eye during the 11-day flare-up with Israel, which began after Hamas fired rockets on Israeli cities. Throughout Operation Guardian of the Walls – as Israel has called the campaign against Hamas – he was nowhere to be seen, emerging only after the ceasefire had been declared.
In his interview to Vice News, he explained that Hamas entered the latest round of violence "to deliver a message to the Israelis; just a message," all but confirming he had failed to anticipate the full-fledged hostilities that erupted following the first rocket attack on Israeli cities in mid-May.
"We just wanted to send a message to the Israelis that we will not allow them to take over Al-Aqsa Mosque, Jerusalem, or the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood [in the Israeli capital]," he said. " This is what will define the near future," he said, after being asked if another escalation was just around the corner.
When he was asked about whether war crimes had been committed by Hamas during the fighting, Sinwar said the terrorist organization was acting in self-defense.
"Israel – which possesses a complete arsenal of weaponry, state-of-the-art equipment and aircrafts – intentionally bombs and kills our children and women ... That's not the same as those who defend themselves with weapons that look primitive in comparison. If we had the capabilities to launch precision missiles against military targets, we wouldn't go after cities."
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