Wall Street Journal, August 7, 2025

A Hamas leader says new global recognition for Palestinian statehood is a reward for the October 7 massacre.

The leaders of France, Canada and the United Kingdom think they’re doing a good deed by saying they’ll soon recognize a state of Palestine at the United Nations. Maybe they should listen to the response from Hamas, which thinks this recognition is a reward for slaughtering Jews.

That’s the only way to interpret comments Saturday by Hamas Politburo member Ghazi Hamad on Al Jazeera. “The powerful blow that was delivered to Israel on October 7 has yielded three very important historic achievements. First of all, it brought the Palestinian cause back. Why are all these countries recognizing Palestine now?” he asked. Good question. “The overall outcome of October 7,” Mr. Hamad continued, “forced the world to open its eyes to the Palestinian cause, and to act forcefully in this respect.” Massacre as a political strategy has long been Hamas practice, but it’s still remarkable to hear it stated with such unvarnished aplomb.

The three Western countries are demanding that Israel accept a cease-fire deal, but Israel already has. Hamas rejects it. And after the recognition news, Hamas won’t even come to the table. It prefers to foil aid distribution to Gaza and drag out the civilian suffering, confident it can manipulate Western opinion by blaming Israel for the hunger photos it uses to influence the gullible West. Good job, everyone.

France, the U.K. and Canada call on Hamas to demilitarize, but Mr. Hamad on Al Jazeera declared that anathema. “The weapons constitute the Palestinian cause,” he said. “Surrendering our weapons means the end of the resistance and the end of the Palestinian cause.”

This is the same Mr. Hamad who said a few weeks after October 7, “We will do this again and again.” Less publicized but equally telling was his explanation. “We are the victims,” Mr. Hamad said. “Therefore, nobody should blame us for the things we do. On October 7, on October 10, on October one-millionth, everything we do is justified.” Maybe Mr. Hamad can be foreign minister of the new state.

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