Ghazi Hamad

Ghazi Hamad (Arabic: غازي حمد; born 1964) is a Hamas official. He is a former chairman of the border crossings authority in the Gaza Strip. He was Deputy Foreign Minister in the Hamas government of 2012.

Quotes

• [On Jeremy Corbyn, who was elected leader of the British Labour Party later in September 2015] I find that he has very good sympathy and support for the Palestinian cause and the Palestinian struggle and he is frankly against the occupation, against the racist policy of Israel, against settlements.
  According to his statements, I feel that he could be very close to the Palestinians, the Arabs and to the Muslims. He supports all the right things in the world regarding freedom, justice, dignity, the right of people under occupation to get their national rights.
• [On the issue of considering Corbyn a "friend" of Hamas] In order to be careful. I don't want this word to be used against him. [...] But we expect him to translate what he said before into actions - to move from words to deeds.
  We expect Mr Corbyn and Britain to change the policy and to understand that the struggle of the Palestinian people against the occupation is fair. And that Hamas is not a terrorist organisation.
  This can prove that he really can be a good friend for the Palestinians.
  • Quotes from an interview, as cited in "Jeremy Corbyn praised by Hamas leaders for his 'sympathetic' stance on the Israel-Palestinian conflict", The Telegraph (3 September 2015).
  • Corbyn had referred to Hezbollah and Hamas as "friends" in a 2009 speech.

• We will repeat the October 7 attack time and again until Israel is annihilated.
• We are victims - everything we do is justified.
• Israel is a country that has no place on our (Palestine's) land.
  That nation must go because it poses a military and political threat to the security of the Arab and Islamic countries and must be destroyed.
• [Following 7 October] There will be a second, third, and fourth because we have the will, the resolve, and the capabilities to fight.
  • Comments translated by MEMRI, as cited in "We will repeat the October 7 attack time and again until Israel is annihilated, says Hamas official Ghazi Hamad", LBC (1 November 2023)
  • Haaretz reported Hamad was speaking on Lebanese television, rather than MEMRI directly as LBC states.