Abbas’ advisor admits Hamas used civilians as human shields: Hamas hid Israeli hostages in “simple civilian infrastructure”
PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ Advisor on Religious Affairs and Islamic Relations Mahmoud Al-Habbash: “The Israeli occupation forces committed an additional massacre at the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip (sic., refers to Operation Arnon in which 4 Israeli hostages were freed during the 2023 Gaza war; see note below). Hundreds of civilians fell as Martyrs and wounded people,... This is a refugee camp. The infrastructure there is a simple civilian one. It has a very large population density…”
BBC Arabic TV host: “The Israeli army spokesperson and senior Israeli officials all claimed that the killing of the civilians in Nuseirat is Hamas’ responsibility. They say that Hamas is the one that hid the Israeli detainees (i.e., hostages) in a crowded refugee camp, therefore it is the one that bears the responsibility.” ...
Mahmoud Al-Habbash: “Who created all these violent rounds of conflict, this hatred, and this lack of security and stability in the entire region? Did the problem start for example on Oct. 7, [2023] (i.e., Hamas’ massacre in Israel)? Let no one understand me as defending Hamas’ policy, I’m the first who criticizes it... The responsibility falls first of all and before everything [else] on the cause for all these disasters that are befalling the region, and it is the existence of the Israeli occupation. If there were no occupation there would be no Hamas, there would be no resistance, and there would be no violence.... Releasing the Israeli hostages or Israeli captives is an excuse. Just like everything that happened on Oct. 7 was an excuse for Israel to spill the Palestinian people’s blood... The Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip is unfortunately between the rock of Israel and the hard place of Hamas.”
BBC Arabic TV placed text on screen during the interview:
Text on screen: “The Israeli army announced the ‘release’ [quotation marks in source] of four living hostages in a special operation in the Gaza Strip”
[PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ Advisor on Religious Affairs and Islamic Relations Mahmoud Al-Habbash, Facebook page, June 9, 2024]