Basem Naim

Basem Naim

Basem Naim is Hamas' Head of Political and International Relations.

Meeting with Jackson Hinkle

Jackson Hinkle with Basem Naim

On February 17, 2025 Jackson Hinkle spoke with Basem Naim of Hamas' Political Bureau in Doha, Qatar

On February 17, 2025 Jackson Hinkle spoke with Basem Naim of Hamas' Political Bureau in Doha, Qatar.,

In an episode of Legitimate Targets, host Jackson Hinkle, a communist, interviews Basem Naim, a member of Hamas's political bureau, in Qatar. The discussion focuses on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, events after October 7th, 2023, and the Palestinian resistance to Israel’s military actions. Both speakers criticize Israel, America, and the West, accusing them of supporting occupation and denying Palestinians rights to freedom, dignity, and statehood.

The conversation covers Basem Naim’s account of the conflict’s toll, with over 50,000 Palestinians killed and thousands injured or missing, while questioning Israeli claims and highlighting Western support, especially through American military aid. Jackson Hinkle criticizes Israeli actions and Western policies, noting Palestinian resistance. They frame October 7th as a response to decades of oppression.

Full Transcript

Jackson Hinkle: Welcome back to Legitimate Targets, everybody. I hope you're all having a great day. I couldn't be more pleased than I am right now to welcome our exceptional guest to the show, Dr. Basem Naim, one of the members of Hamas's political bureau. We are here in Qatar, and I am very excited for this conversation. So you're welcome. Thank you. It's an honor. Please. So, you know, doctor, I got to say I was very worried on October 7th because a few days after October 7th, Netanyahu came out and he said, "We're going to wipe Hamas off the face of the earth." And then in April of 2024, he said the same thing. He said, "We're getting very close to wiping Hamas off the face of the earth." But here you are, and the Palestinian people stand strong. So, given that that was Israel's primary goal, is this a total victory for Hamas and the Palestinian resistance?

Basem Naim: Thank you very much for having me with you. I believe the total victory is to get rid of the occupation, to return back to our homeland, to our cities, our villages, to be able to go back to Al-Aqsa, Jerusalem. But sure, this was the final end of this round of the confrontation with the Israelis was a great step towards these genuine national goals of self-determination, independence, freedom, and right of return. It was very costly. We Palestinians, especially in the Gaza Strip, have paid very, very high, very precious prices for this trip, but I believe it is a big achievement on both sides. It was very painful to lose our beloved people. More than 50,000 registered as killed, but we are still waiting to get rid of the rubble to be sure about the rest who are at least around 10 to 15,000 still under the rubble, 100 to 120,000 injured. At least 20,000 of them are seriously wounded. Thousands kidnapped from the Gaza Strip and are inside Israel, but we have no idea about them, if they are still alive or have been killed or killed under torture. It was a very high price. But again, October 7th had made it clear that Palestinians can achieve their goals, Israel is defeatable, Palestinians can do it even alone. Maybe for some reasons we can say that these very high prices are partially also because not only because of the brutality of the Israelis, which is the case, and they have talked about this in many occasions, but it is also because of the complicity of a lot of countries, in particular in the west, and on the top of this is the United States. Today I am reading about ships of ammunition reached Ashdod, which is carrying 1,000 and 2,000 ton bombs preparing maybe for the next round to be dropped on the top of Palestinians above their rubble. Therefore, I believe if the international community, if the western countries, were committed to their obligations according to international law, I am sure we have saved a lot of lives. We have saved a lot of blood, a lot of tears, and Palestinians, at the end, they are not asking more than their genuine rights, their rights according to international law to have their own state, independent, self-sovereign state, to write it to live in dignity and freedom. Therefore, again, when we understand this context, it is a victorious step.

Jackson Hinkle: Trump has come out a few times and he says that the population in Gaza is now 1.7 to 1.8 million. Of course, you know, before October 7th, the population was much more than that, 400, 500,000. Do you think his statistics are accurate? And if so, where did all those people go? Because, you know, we see the Ministry of Health in Gaza, they say that the death toll registered officially is over 40,000. That Lancet study said 120,000. But what about the others?

Basem Naim: Exactly. I have no idea about his intentions to mention this number, but officially there are 2.3 plus million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Around 200,000 plus of them are outside the Gaza Strip. Some of them after the war, but some of them before the war. They have left Gaza for different reasons, to study or for a job. Therefore, we are talking about 2.1 million Palestinians who are registered in Gaza Strip. Official figures and statistics talking about, as I said, 50,000 killed, 10 to 15,000 are still missing under the rubble, and 120,000 Palestinians wounded. Where this gap, how he made it, I don’t know. I hear some analysis that he is talking that maybe there are 400,000 to 500,000 Palestinians who are Hamas supporters or Hamas affiliated, and if they decide to stay in Gaza, or he is ready to wipe them out, but I think this would be a very evil idea.

Jackson Hinkle: Of course, I mean, just your opinion on this. Trump says that he’s going to forcibly displace, or he wants to do that, you know, the two million people roughly in Gaza. And for the past 15 months, all of these Zionists in the Western media and the political class were saying that every single Palestinian is a terrorist and a terrorist supporter, and now they’re saying that Europe should take the Palestinians or the Gulf States should take the Palestinians. I mean, what is your response to this hypocrisy?

Basem Naim: Unfortunately, you have described it very well. It is the hypocrisy. We have seen it in a lot of cases in Afghanistan, in Syria, and other countries, how the western politicians deal in a very hypocritical way. But first of all, this confrontation, it is not between Hamas and Israel, because this has been said all the time, especially in the western mainstream media. It is between Palestinians and Israel. Maybe this time it is led by Hamas, but 20 to 30 years ago, it was led by Fatah, 50 years ago, it was led by PFLP and others. I mean, for more than 100 years, Palestinians are leading this struggle to get rid of the occupation, for their dignity and freedom and independence. Second, Palestinians are not attacking anyone outside Palestine. Even we have no problems with Jews or Judaism. It is clear we are fighting for political goals. We are fighting against the occupation. We are fighting against the tanks or airplanes who are attacking our people. Therefore, we are not initiating any aggression against anyone. If we can achieve our goals politically and peacefully, yes, this is most welcomed from our side. And by the way, we have tried this in 1993 in Oslo and we have signed an agreement, and we have given the international community and the Israelis 30 years until 2023, 30 years to implement this deal, the Oslo Agreement, so that Palestinians at the end have their own independent, self-sovereign state. But it has totally collapsed and failed. And what we have seen, what we are seeing now, more annexation of the land, more settlements, more killing of Palestinians, more suffocating siege around Gaza. Therefore, the resistance, it is not a goal in itself. It is a tool to achieve our goals. And this tool, I mean the resistance in general, a comprehensive approach of the resistance, I mean politically and diplomatically and in the media, but also armed resistance. This is a guaranteed right in international law. It is clearly written in international law that people under occupation have the right to resist this occupation by all means, including armed resistance. How can I describe, in the Second World War, Europe and the west in general, including the United States, under the British, to fight Nazis and fascist countries. They have used all kinds of ammunition and arms to fight back. So that they have lost more than 30 to 40 million from both sides, and a lot of cities inside Europe were totally destroyed. They have always considered the resistance of General de Gaulle as legitimate resistance and General de Gaulle as a hero of France, and the government of Vichy was a collaborating government with the Nazi group. Again, it is about the hypocrisy of the west, and therefore, again, what we are calling for is a just demand. Our people have all the right to have their own state, self-sovereign state, independent. They have the right to return back to their homeland, and also they have all the right to fight back, to resist an aggressive, brutal, racist occupation. Therefore, we have said it many times in the media, October 7th was a response, was a fight back. It was not an initiative from our side. We were, for more than 17 years, totally suffocated by the siege on Gaza, 57 years after 1967 occupied by the Israeli troops, and 67 years after the Nakba, totally oppressed and kicked out forcefully from our homeland.

Jackson Hinkle: And the strategy was proven successful. I mean, yesterday alone, you know, Gaza freed Israelis, and there was, I believe, over 360 Palestinians that were being tortured and killed and almost killed in Israeli prisons that were freed back into Gaza. So, I mean, the strategy has been vindicated, right? It shows that your method was not to terrorize the people. It was about one step closer to liberation and actually freeing the Palestinians that are being tortured.

Basem Naim: Right. I think we as Palestinians, maybe people who are very addicted to reading history, our own history and the history of other people in Vietnam, in South Africa, in Indonesia, in Algeria, it has proven clearly that maybe this is the only way that a colonial project can leave any country. And I believe that one of the famous philosopher, officer, patriot who said, this is the nature of colonial projects. They are brutal. They are savage. They cannot leave simply from their own decision. They have to be obliged. They have to be forced with very costly prices to leave the country. Unfortunately, there is no other way, and again and again, we have said it many times. If there is any other way which is peaceful and political that Palestinians can gain their rights, it is most welcomed, and it is the preferable way for us. It is not easy for any one of us to lose his children, mothers, and fathers, to lose the house, or to lose any of his properties. But, therefore, we have said it also repeatedly, the Israelis have pushed us or resorted us to this way again because we have already offered a hand for peace through signing that agreement, and it was undermined and sabotaged by the Israelis. If you read the book of Netanyahu, which was written in 1996, he said it clearly, there is no chance for any idea like two-state solution. And he has repeated this for 30 years. And the last time was in 2024 in front of the UN General Assembly that there is no place between the river and the sea for any political entity except Israel.

Jackson Hinkle: I think you're 100% correct. I mean, Mao said that true political power only comes out the barrel of a gun. Do you think that the Palestinians are closer to having you guys a Palestinian state now than you were on October 6th of 2023?

Basem Naim: 100% yes. Because on October 6th, we were on one side when it comes to the Israelis, they have declared their official plan for 2024, 2025, this so-called the final solution plan, which was adopted by the government and budget allocated, and they have already started to take practical steps to annex the rest of the West Bank, to Judaize Jerusalem, and expelling forcefully the people from there and to change the status quo in Al-Aqsa forever, which is also against international law, and continue the siege, the suffocating siege against Gaza, and then starting the so-called normalization process with the Arab countries. This plan, if we didn’t have October 7th, I’m sure Palestine would be totally forgotten forever from the present and from the future. Especially we believe that if this normalization process went according to their plans, and they were able to bypass the Palestinian or to overcome the Palestinian question according to Netanyahu’s plans, there will be no context or no conditions which enable the Palestinians to struggle again for their historical goal which is freedom and dignity and independence. Therefore, October 7th was a fight back against all these aggressions on a daily basis. By the way, 20,000 Palestinians were killed between 2000 and 2023 on different checkpoints and in Gaza. I mean, this was a fight back against all these daily operations, but also it was a message that no one, no regime in Israel or outside, even in the region, is allowed or can bypass the Palestinian or overcome the Palestinian question by normalizing the relationship between Israel and the region without solving the Palestinian problem. And therefore, Palestinians have sent this strong message to all the countries in the region, but you can, I’m sure you are following the media in the west very closely. Today, Palestine is on the table of every politician, on in the media, main titles in the media, which is, I’m talking about mainstream media and social media. 143 countries have voted clearly for an independent, self-sovereign state of Palestine. Yes, we are closer. Israel is much weaker today than on October 6th.

Jackson Hinkle: So much so that, you know, I wasn’t even sure if we were going to get the opportunity to sit down because Israel was threatening to destroy the whole ceasefire agreement yesterday. They said that they were going to renew the genocidal bombing campaign, and this was because they were violating the ceasefire and Hamas and the Palestinian people called them out and said you can’t keep doing this. What do you think changed? Because Netanyahu was very clear. He was saying we’re going to continue to our goal of wiping out Hamas. Insane, and he said that if all the hostages aren’t freed by yesterday, excuse me, Saturday, that they would continue. But then magically we see Witkoff, Trump’s negotiator, he’s talking with the mediators, and then out of nowhere, Israel agrees to the release of only three hostages, reportedly increased the amount of aid that they were sending into Gaza. And you guys won again, and Ben-Gvir is freaking out. So what changed there?

Basem Naim: First of all, I think they have tried a long 15 months to achieve their goals: to wipe out Hamas, to destroy Hamas, to forceful displacement of all Palestinians outside of the Gaza Strip, and to retrieve the captured Israelis forcefully. And they have failed totally. And they know if they try it again, they will fail, and maybe today the chance to succeed is much weaker than a few months ago. Second, I believe that everyone, including the current US administration, is aware that Netanyahu, for personal reasons, for political reasons, has all the intentions to sabotage the deal. It has nothing to do with ceasefire, with peace, with normalization. To rescue himself and his coalition, he is planning by all means to sabotage the deal. Therefore, yes, I believe the failure in the Gaza Strip, the internal pressure inside Israel, there are a lot of pressures inside Israel itself from the families, from the society, by the way, even in the right wing. I have read a lot of polls showing that 75% of the people on the right who are for continuing this deal up to the end of the third phase. And third, that the international community, in particular the United States, are aware that Netanyahu personally and his coalition are trying to sabotage the deal, and this will not serve the bigger goals of the current administration to achieve calm, stability, and security and prosperity in the region through the other way, which is the normalization, that Gaza is still under fire. And we have still war here. It will not pave the way for the other route. Therefore, yes, I believe he is under pressure because of the failure in Gaza, because of the families and the internal situation inside Israel, and because of pressure from the international community, in particular from the current administration.

Jackson Hinkle: It seems like a lot of US politicians don’t like Netanyahu because they understand that it might be preferential for the United States to have a less radical government in Israel that will wipe out the Palestinians through death by a thousand cuts, normalization processes, settlement by settlement, so on and so forth. And Netanyahu is so extreme that it turns the entire world against Israel. It shows their true colors. What do you think is more dangerous for the Palestinians? The more liberal, reformed approach in Israel of death by a thousand cuts or the approach that Netanyahu has taken over the past 15 months?

Basem Naim: To be honest, both are very dangerous because what you are giving me as choices, our choice is only to choose how to die or how to be killed, in pieces or in one shot by a US-made bomb. I’ll say that it gives you also the opportunity to reflect on how you would respond to both scenarios, how the Palestinians would respond, which maybe one way is preferential. Again, I believe both tracks are very dangerous as long as no one of them is leading to our goals, which is an independent, self-sovereign state and the right of return. To do it like the past or the last US administration, to talk very nicely about two-state solution, about democratic solution, about peaceful solution and normalization, and with the other hand to send more weapons and more money and to use veto in the Security Council. This is one way, and the other way is to support them fully, I mean these radical guys in Israel, to wipe out Palestinians, to forceful displacement of Palestinians in one shot. I think for us, both are very serious, very dangerous as long as no one of these choices is leading to our to achieve our goals. But I think we have an alternative way, a third way. Why not, based on international law, to give the Palestinians their rights to get rid of the occupation, to achieve their national goals of independent, self-sovereign state. I think a lot of people across the world are asking that same question really about their countries as well. There’s no respect whatsoever for international law, for the rules-based international order, whatever they want to call it in the west. And yes, it could be, you could be right. But the question is, either we have law or the law of the jungle. If you encourage the Israelis to continue, it means you are encouraging the law of the jungle. But when we live in a jungle, it is not only Israel or America who have the power to do what they can. Also, people could, they could be weaker, but they have always assets at some time to use to respond, to fight back, like what happened in October 7th, the resilience, the steadfastness. Look, the Palestinians, along 15 months, they have endured a horrible aggression. More than 500,000 tons of explosive material dropped on the heads of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Thousands and thousands killed. Most of them are children and women. But you didn’t get one picture of a Palestinian trying to break the borders near Egypt to flee from the Gaza Strip. On May 7th, 2024, when Netanyahu decided to invade Rafah near the Egyptian borders, in Rafah, at that time, there were 1.2 plus million Gaza Palestinians in the city, and when the incursion started and when the aggression started, all these people moved to the north. No one single Palestinian moved to the south, I mean towards Egypt. Therefore, this has shown clearly that Palestinians, despite they knew that they are moving toward killing, death, hunger, starvation, no electricity, but despite of this, they show their commitment to their cause, to their land. Therefore, yes, you might have more military capabilities, but this is not the only or the sole source of power. People have sometimes, by their steadfastness, by their resilience, by their readiness to sacrifice. We said in Arabic, a bare hand sometimes can break a gun.

Jackson Hinkle: I like that, but also the military expertise of Hamas and the Palestinian resistance factions has been incredible. I think many people across the world are shocked by the courage and the honor that they have exhibited over the past 15 months. And I guess, what are the secrets to the success of this revolutionary force that is able to defeat one of the most powerful militaries on the face of the earth, on paper, and also one more additional question to that. Israel claims that about 1,070 IDF troops died in Gaza. Do you think that number is accurate?

Basem Naim: I read the latest press releases from the IDF. They are talking about 5,945 soldiers killed and 15,000 wounded and out of service. And we believe that the numbers are bigger because they are talking about the official registered soldiers. You know that they have other groups, other fighters. They came from all over the world, what we call it mercenary. They are not registered. The so-called sole soldier is not registered. Therefore, we believe that the numbers are much, much bigger. They are talking about 10,000 Israeli soldiers are visiting, in a monthly basis, calling or asking for psychological support. At the end, I heard from a Jewish supporter of Palestine who said, genocide is equal to suicide. When you are killing children and women, it is not easy to return back to your city, to your family, to your children as a normal person. I mean, I’m sure this will haunt you every day, 7 days a week, 24 hours. What enabled this group of fighters with very simple, light weapons, it is very simple, by the way, to achieve this victory. I think, first of all, their strong commitment to their cause. Second, this military group built on 20 years of experience in encountering or confrontation with the Israelis. And therefore, they have developed a lot of strategies and tactics how to face the Israelis. For example, maybe beginning 2024, there were instructions to the fighters not to provoke the Israelis, I mean not to initiate any fight, and even if they come, not to encounter them or not to fight back, leave them pass through the area. Only when they stay there and they are starting to attack the Palestinians or to destroy houses, you can fight back, first to spare as much as you can of weapons or the light weapons, second to avoid the retaliation of the Israelis because when one Palestinian has shot against them, they have wiped out neighborhoods. I mean, these tactics and these strategies have been developed over years, the very, very strong steadfastness of the people on the ground. I think this was a very crucial factor in supporting the resistance. You are talking about maybe the first war in history where you are leading a fight on two levels, two floors, above the ground and under the ground. And I think this helped a lot to save lives, to save ammunition. Also, the brutality of the Israelis, this brutal aggression against the Palestinians, this radical approach, the media coverage, which they have tried all the time to prevent it by killing more than 400, 500 journalists and preventing any international journal to come into Gaza. All this together, I think, have played a very strong role. But first and last is the very strong commitment to the cause. We also, as Muslims, we believe that the support of Allah, the support of God to our people, because we are fighting for a just cause to live in dignity and freedom. This is also a very important factor in giving us the faith and the steadfastness to continue this struggle.

Jackson Hinkle: Over the last year, you know, we saw the martyrdom of several very notable leaders of Hamas, Haniyeh, the martyr Sinwar, and of course many, many, many Palestinians who are fighting or just simply living their lives as civilians. Israel, though, has often times tried this method of cutting the head off the snake. They think that’s going to stop the Palestinians. They haven’t learned from their mistakes. They haven’t learned from history. I guess, when you look at what we’ve seen now with these, the martyrdom of these leaders and key officials, and there is maybe a new generation of Palestinians that are rising up. What can we expect from this new generation of young leaders and fighters, and maybe what sort of a shift in mindset do they bring to the table for the Palestinian resistance?

Basem Naim: This is a very important question because it has to affect the future of this conflict. First, they didn’t learn from not only from history but even from this current conflict, from this round. Two weeks ago, Al-Qassam spokesperson have announced about the killing of nine prominent leaders of the movement, political and militant leaders, but we are aware that all these leaders, bless others, were killed along 15 months. They were not killed in one shot. But no one from outside has observed any decline of the resistance, of the commitment when it comes to the people on the ground, when it comes to the fighters, when it comes to the negotiators, I mean the political track. It continued as if nothing happened. And this has to be from the beginning a strong message for the Israelis and their supporters that it is not about persons. It is about people who are fighting and committed to their cause. Second, Hamas is used to such to deal with such crimes. They have killed the founder Yassin, they have killed Rantisi, they have killed a lot of our leaders and bless a lot of other Palestinians, prominent leaders like Shaqaqi and others. But the generations after generations, Palestinian continue, and we have always a new leaders who are more committed or stronger committed to the cause because, again, it is not about Hamas. It is not about person here or there. It is about people who are keen to achieve their goals of independence, dignity, and freedom, and to live in peace, prosperity with all other peoples like any other nation. But they didn’t observe, again, that after the killing of any leader, we have a new generation of leaders and cadres and others who are more committed, more sophisticated, and maybe more wise to lead this battle. But what I can say today, which is more important for the future than the past, about the killing, look, today in Gaza, for example, you have around 2 million Palestinians, 70% of them are below 18, children. Most of those fighters who fought during this round were in 2014, when the Israelis attacked Gaza, were children. I mean, those children who were children in 2014 who are now carrying the guns to fight back. If you have today more than 2 million Palestinians, the vast majority of them are children, denied basics, I’m talking about food and medicine, a house, a hospital, a school, a mosque, a church, the right to travel, even to travel for urgent cases like treatment abroad, to study, and at the same time, they have thousands of guns. What do you expect? You are paving the way for the next round. As long as these guys, these children, don’t have a vision of a better future, if they don’t have any hint that it could be better, I am sure they have nothing to lose. As we say in the very famous Arabic poem, why not to fight back? You are not going to lose except the tent and the chains, shackles. Why not to fight back? Therefore, they are creating, instead of 20, 30,000 Al-Qassam fighters, they are already creating hundreds of thousands of potential fighters. Palestinians will not and are not ready to give up their struggle for freedom and dignity, and they are already fighting now for more than 100 years. Therefore, again, it is not about Haniyeh, who is a hero, who is an icon, becoming icon not only for Palestinians, for Arabs, for Muslims, for a lot of people around the world. And here, maybe also we have to add one point, if you study the Israeli politics in the last two decades, you can observe a clear shift from the left to the radical right, religious right. Until now, we Palestinians, we are still fighting for a political goal, a state, right of return, according to international law. But the Israelis, for the last two decades, they are shifting this conflict from a political conflict into a religious conflict. Their rhetoric, their statements, their ideas, ideologies, I am talking about politicians, Knesset members, media, everyone. He is talking in a very religious language. What does it mean? It means that instead of fighting and negotiating today with two, three, four million Palestinians, it will come a day that you are negotiating and fighting against 1.4 or 7 million Muslims because they will feel it is not about Palestinians. It is about Al-Aqsa, which is the third holiest shrine in Islam. It is about the holy Jerusalem, Al-Quds. I mean, if we leave these radical religious groups to shift this conflict from a political conflict about statehood and right of return and international law, international humanitarian law, into a religious conflict, I am sure you are destabilizing not only Palestine, you are destabilizing the whole region and maybe the whole world.

Jackson Hinkle: Well, I hope that if that does happen, that those across the world who are being attacked will have the courage that the Palestinians have exhibited, not just for the past 15 months, but for many, many, many years, and I think that is a perfect note to leave off on. So, Dr. Basem Naim, thank you so much. And I just got to say that as an American, I am of course appalled by what my government is doing, and the Palestinians and you have my full support and the support of many Americans. The tide is shifting, and we just love you guys.

Basem Naim: By the way, we have observed this all the 15 months along. How many thousands and thousands of Americans from all faiths, not only Muslims, not only Christians, but also in the forefront, Jews, who fought and struggled to stop this aggression and also supporting the rights of Palestinians. And really, we are appreciating this very, very highly. And we believe, again, and I have to emphasize this, that it is not about Jews or Judaism. It is about political rights to live in freedom and dignity. And when we have seen all these thousands of people in the streets, in universities, rail stations, inside the Capitol, everywhere, we have believed that this brought us nearer to the goals, our national goals, because we know that, at the end, America is the decisive power in this context, and this huge mass of people who are raising their voices and paying prices for this to support our goal, it is a good sign that we are on the right track. Thank you so much.

Denies Civilian Deaths in October 7, 2023 Terror Attack

Hamas Leader Basem Naim denies repeatedly that civilians were murdered during October 7, 2023 terror attack.

Despite "more than 1,400" casualties from Hamas' terror attack on Israel from October 7, 2023, Hamas leader Basem Naim denied on October 9, 2023 that civilians were killed, and "100% guaranteed" that any Hamas hostages would be safe. From Sky News:,

"Hamas' Head of Political and International Relations has told Sky News that no civilians have been killed by the militant group.

Doctor Basem Naim told Sky's Mark Austin that only Israeli "soldiers" were killed.

Dr Naim also said he "100% guaranteed" that any hostages taken by Hamas will be safe.

Part of Hamas Delegation in Moscow

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov with Hamas leaders Musa Abu Marzouk and Bassem Naim in Moscow.

• October, 2023: "Vladimir Putin sought to intervene in the Middle Eastern conflict on Thursday by inviting senior Hamas and Iranian leaders to Moscow. In a move condemned by Israel as an 'obscene step' that 'gives support to terrorism', Russian officials met with the terror group who praised them for taking an 'active role' in the war. Ali Bagheri Kani, the deputy foreign minister of Iran, the main foreign sponsor of Hamas, was also in Moscow for talks...A photograph released by Hamas showed Bassem Naeem, its head of international relations, and Mousa Abu Marzouk, a senior member of the Hamas politburo, in a meeting with Mikhail Bogdanov, Putin’s special envoy in the Middle East. Western observers said the meetings suggested Putin had abandoned his long-standing alliance with Israel in favour of closer ties with Iran and its Islamist allies, who carried out the Oct 7 terror attacks on Israel and have stepped up a bombing campaign on American troops in the wider Middle East..."