Former Haniyeh Advisor Ahmed Yousef: Hamas Abroad Is Tone Deaf to Gaza's Suffering; October 7 Was a Miscalculated Failure - Mistakes Were Made; Palestinians Should Use Victim Narrative to Influence U.
Ahmed Yousef, former advisor to Ismail Haniyeh, said in a May 31, 2025 interview with Al-Arabiya Network (Saudi Arabia) from a tent in the Gaza Strip that the October 7 attack was miscalculated and unsuccessful. He criticized Hamas's political leadership abroad for being tone-deaf to the suffering of Palestinians remaining in Gaza, accusing them of using euphoric terminology to portray the people as heroes instead of victims.
Yousef remarked that he had studied in the West for 20 years, understands Western mentality well, and knows it is not an 'infinite evil.' He said America is changing, and Palestinians should invest more money in portraying themselves as victims, and therefore as deserving of statehood.
While acknowledging a 'moment of ecstasy' on October 7, Yousef said mistakes were made, giving Israel the pretext to perpetrate what he described as 'crimes against humanity.' For example, he argued that while Hamas's infiltration of 'settlements' surrounding Gaza and taking Israeli soldiers as hostages was a success, the civilian abductees should have been released.
Yousef also stated that, regardless of whether one supported the Oslo Accords, they had brought more achievements to Palestinians than the October 7 attack. He mentioned that his daughter—an American national—is currently working at Georgetown University, and that her husband, Dr. Badar Khan Sur, was detained for his pro-Hamas statements, 'suffered on my account.'
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