Mashaal: Hamas tunnels were defensive in nature, Israel imposed war on Gaza

In a wide-ranging interview with Vanity Fair magazine, the Hamas leader said Mohammed Deif was still alive.

In a wide-ranging interview with Vanity Fair magazine, Hamas’s political bureau chief Khaled Mashaal denied Israeli claims that the network of underground tunnels built by the Islamist organization ruling the Gaza Strip were designed to launch attacks against civilian towns near the Israel-Gaza border.

According to the American publication, Mashaal accused the Israeli government of using the tunnels as a pretext to launch a ground incursion into Gaza.

“Please note when we used these tunnels,” Mashaal told Vanity Fair. “We used them when Israel waged war against us. So the tunnels may have been outwardly called offensive tunnels, but in actual fact, they are defensive ones. If those were offensive tunnels, Hamas would have used them before the war. But, when Israel carried out its aggression against us, we used the tunnels to infiltrate behind the back lines of the Israeli army, which is waging war on Gaza.”

---

“Mohammed Deif is alive,” he said. “Israelis failed to kill him. But they succeeded in killing his wife and his two children. Mohammed Deif is still alive, and will continue to fight the Israeli aggression and occupation. Inshallah.”

http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Mashaal-Hamas-tunnels-were-defensive-in-nature-Israel-imposed-war-on-Gaza-379607