The United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths said that Hamas is a “political movement.”
An anchor with Sky News asked, “In terms of Israel’s plans to eliminate Hamas and have them never be part of any future negotiation when it comes to Gaza, do you think that’s realistic?”
“I think it’s very difficult, and as you say, I’ve worked with many, many, many different terrorist and insurgent groups,” Griffiths responded. “Hamas is not a terrorist group for us, of course, as you know. It’s a political movement.”
Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations Gilad Erdan reacted to Griffiths’ statement, saying, “The UN’s pro-Hamas stance is finally exposed on live TV. In the words of a UN Under-Secretary-General ‘Hamas is NOT a terrorist group for us, it’s a political movement.’”
“Is the brutal murder of hundreds of civilians, not terror?” he asked. “Is the systematic rape of women not terror? Is attempting Jewish genocide not terror?”
“Ladies and gentlemen, this is the@UN: a terror-excusing, Hamas-promoting, victim-blaming organization that has lost every ounce of credibility. Nothing said by the UN can be trusted or accepted.”
Responding to widespread criticism, Griffiths shared on X, “Just to clarify: Hamas is not on the list of groups designated as terrorist organizations by the United Nations Security Council,” adding, “This doesn’t make their acts of terror on 7 October any less horrific and reprehensible, as I’ve been saying all along.”