‘Russians Said They Would Teach Our Attack in Their Military Academies' – Hamas Leader Mashal

Hamas leader Khaled Mashal said Moscow has benefited directly from its support of the Islamist group and that Russia will now teach its Oct. 7 attack on Israel as a tactic in its military academies and China could use similar operations against Taiwan.

Hamas relies on the support of its allies, including major powers such as Russia and China, Mashal stated in an interview with an Egyptian TV channel.

According to him, Russia has massively benefited from the Hamas-Israeli war as it has distracted American attention from Ukraine. He also made a quite controversial statement regarding Russian authorities mentioning to him that “they will study the Oct. 7 attack in their military academies.”

“For your information, Russia has benefited from our actions; we have diverted American attention from them and Ukraine. The Russians told us they would study our Oct. 7 attack in their military academies,” Mashal said.

“China is reportedly considering a similar approach in Taiwan. The Arabs are giving a master class to the whole world,” he added.

Last week, Russia and China, along with the United Arab Emirates, exercised their veto power in the UN Security Council to block a US proposal supporting Israel and condemning the Hamas attack. Both countries appear resolute in their support for the Palestinian cause.

Musa Abu-Marzouk, a member of the Hamas political bureau, recently visited Moscow with other representatives of the organization. During his visit, he held discussions with officials from the Russian Foreign Ministry and expressed Hamas’s appreciation for Russia’s support, promising to locate and secure the release of Russian hostages.

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According to Musa Abu Marzouk, Hamas had received a list of Russian citizens, including those with dual citizenship, from the Russian Foreign Ministry.

“From the Russian side, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, we received a list of citizens with dual citizenship. We are attentive to this list and will carefully process it because we look at Russia as our closest friend,” Marzouk was quoted as saying by Russian state media.

According to Marzouk’s information, eight Russian citizens are currently held captive by Hamas. The group is actively searching for them and is committed to releasing them.

Hamas has taken at least 224 people captive, which includes not only citizens of Israel but also individuals from other countries.