Hamas Wants the World to Forget

What happens when a terrorist group no longer defends its atrocities but simply denies they ever happened—and much of the world is willing to look away? Hamas is betting that enough time, enough destruction in Gaza, and enough media distraction can erase the massacre that ignited the war. If that gamble succeeds, Israel will lose more than the information battle; it will lose control of the historical record itself.

Hamas has opened a new front in its war against Israel—not with rockets or tunnels, but with propaganda.

During an interview with Piers Morgan, senior Hamas official Ghazi Hamad claimed the terrorist group never intended to murder civilians on October 7. Women and children, he insisted, were never targets. Civilian deaths were dismissed as unfortunate mistakes. When confronted with overwhelming evidence, Hamad simply denied reality.

That wasn’t damage control. It was historical revisionism.

The facts are beyond dispute. On October 7, 2023, thousands of Hamas terrorists stormed southern Israel by land, sea and air, overrunning communities, murdering civilians, kidnapping families, and livestreaming their crimes. The massacre at the Nova music festival, the slaughter inside homes, the hostage-taking of children and elderly civilians—all of it was recorded by the perpetrators themselves.

Yet Hamas now believes it no longer needs to justify those crimes. It only needs the world to forget them.

That calculation isn’t irrational. As the war dragged on, global attention shifted from the attack that started the conflict to the destruction inside Gaza. Images of bombed neighborhoods and civilian suffering dominated headlines while October 7 steadily faded from public debate. Hamas understands modern media: today’s images often eclipse yesterday’s atrocities.

The goal isn’t to convince everyone Hamas was innocent. It’s to muddy the waters until people conclude the truth is unknowable, everyone is equally guilty, and chronology no longer matters.

That’s a strategic victory.

Hamas has also weaponized Gaza’s civilian population, embedding fighters and military infrastructure in densely populated areas while refusing to release hostages or surrender. Every additional month of war has fueled international pressure on Israel while creating more opportunities for Hamas to recast itself as the victim.

Meanwhile, Israel has struggled to maintain control of the narrative. Repeated military operations in the same areas, mounting diplomatic isolation, and an increasingly prolonged conflict have pushed October 7 further into the background. Whether by political calculation or strategic failure, the result has been the same: the defining crime of the war is being overshadowed by the war itself.

That creates exactly the opening Hamas wanted.

If Israel is to prevail in the long run, military success alone won’t be enough. It must also defend the historical truth. That means documenting every crime, preserving every piece of evidence, expanding public archives and memorials, supporting documentaries and educational initiatives, and refusing to allow October 7 to be reduced to a footnote.

Wars are fought on battlefields. They are also fought over memory.

Hamas has begun its campaign to rewrite history. Israel—and the free world—cannot afford to let that lie become tomorrow’s accepted truth.