Hamas leader abroad Khaled Mashal said during an interview this week that Hamas was not responsible for killing innocent civilians in Israel and that Israel is the one that must apologize for what happened.

Mashal made the remarks during a Thursday interview on Saudi Arabia’s Al-Arabiya Network with host Rasha Nabil following the unprecedented terrorist attacks on October 7 where more than 1,400 Israeli’s were murdered.

He said that the manner in which Hamas conducted the attacks — which included raping young girls, burning people alive, taking Holocaust survivors hostage, beheading babies, and more — were forms of “legitimate resistance that our people have agreed upon.”

Nabil noted that Western media coverage has largely focused on the heinous crimes against humanity that the terrorists committed, to which Mashal replied all those accusations were “fabricated” by Israel, even though there are photos, videos, and witness testimony about what they did.

He argued that it was okay for Palestinians to be sacrificed because “no nation is liberated without sacrifices.”

When asked about slaughtering civilians — and the overwhelming majority of those killed during the attacks were civilians — he said that is what happens in war and that “we are not responsible for them.”

“Will you apologize for what was done to the Israeli civilians on October 7?” Nabil asked.

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“With all due respect, your question… Forgive me for saying this… Apologies should be demanded from Israel,” he responded. “You asked me a question and I am answering it with clarity. Hamas does not kill civilians on purpose. It focuses on the soldiers. Period.”

He also called on Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed terrorist group based in Lebanon, to begin launching terror attacks against Israel.

Toward the end of the interview, he suggested that what Hamas wants in exchange for the hostages to be released was for Israel to release roughly 10,000 Palestinian terrorists and criminals who are currently locked up.

WATCH:

Hamas Leader Abroad Khaled Mashal Rejects Accusations of Transgressions against Civilians on October 7 Attack: We Have Nothing to Apologize For; Hamas Only Fights Soldiers, But Sometimes There Are Civilian Victims in War; Hizbullah, Arab Countries Should Do More to Help Us #Hamas… pic.twitter.com/x3O40CFQn8

— MEMRI (@MEMRIReports) October 20, 2023