Take everything with a grain of salt. They knew they are talking to western journalist…

I think this was a terrific episode, and Ahmed did a great job explaining a complex and difficult subject. 18:34

8:36 "It's worth it ?!" ..... Michelle Martin is unprepared for this line of questioning.

Hamas is an horrific terrorist organization. The acts of 10/07 are barbaric. I feel terrible about the Gazan civilian deaths....but Hamas knew what the Israeli response would be against the population and still invaded Israel and slaughtered Israeli civilians. In any case, this is a fascinating interview and I learned a lot. Thanks for posting this.

Thank you very much for this clip. Was insightful

@6:54 a musical festival is a military target she asks while being unable to understand this statement. I want her to have same emotion when hospitals, bakeries are being bombed in Gaza. Are these military targets???????

Akbar is an ideal guest for your program. Michelle correctly pointed out that few people really KNOW much about Hamas. This gentleman is warm, easygoing, understanding of the grief on both sides, & voices the Palestinian yearning for their own homeland. And, in time, I believe,lasting peace, real democracy, equity in finance, health care, respect, opportunity. Eventually, this war will end. Will the liberal groundswell in Israel edge out the extreme right in the Knesset, & integrate & welcome their Arab neighbors in the Promised Land? Or must Armageddon vanquish a third of Earth's number just before Christ's return ?

Thank you for this piece and your work.

Thank you

Fascinating interview, Akbar & Michel!!

its surpring they both don't know the festival was suppose to end 10-6. at the last minute they asked for another day and the IDF approved it. that's where the chaos came in. the festival was suppose tp be finished

Excellent interview.

When the host asks "do they acknowledge using sexual violence as a tool of war", she implies that is a fact. But I believe so many credible sources have discredited that. What do most reasonable people believe is the truth regarding this story line?

Americans don’t have any experience of occupation. It’s hard for them to understand Hamas’s mindset. Talk to some historians from India about their experience of British occupation.

What an interesting interview. Thank you

this is serious journalism :)

How many tough questions are you asking Israel?

Nice to see a conversation about Hamas between two Israeli spokespeople

It's not that it's been merely "classified" as an organization; it IS a terrorist organization.

Hamas leaders have long said they're willing to negotiate based on 1967 borders, and this is in their 2017 charter. This isn't some new ruse to sound pragmatic after 10/7. An organization wouldn't last for nearly 40 years if it weren't pragmatic.

Nelson Mandela was declared terrorist for decades by Apartheid State

Why are harmless comments getting deleted?

So Israel’s middle strikes on playgrounds and bombings of refugee camps & hospitals are not acts of terrorism? The lack of context and willful blindness here is beyond belief.

I adore the pitch of Christiane's voice.

Hamas has political wing who are exposed to cameras quite well. Hamas leaders were hosted recently by Turkey, Russia, Qatar, Egypt and others you can see and hear from them always on Arab media and Specifically Aljazeera

There is research showing that prior to october 7, the majority of gazans were extremely unhappy with the Hamas.

I used to like this program. Now I hear the opening sentences that talk about the killing of a thousand people six months ago, but silent on the 30,000 killed since or the 100s of thousands killed between 1948 and 6 months ago. Don’t they count to you, Christiana?

The resistance is a resistance, weather you like it or not. Treat them as humans just like your self , the there will be peace. The resistance are very educated and very capable just like any other people in this world

In Iran, a regime change shall enhance regional peace and stability. However, it is imperative to champion peaceful, democratic avenues for this transition.

So... The host seems to take on the "Western viewpoint" calling them "terrorists" while they view themselves as "resistance fighters" responding to decades of colonialism and Apartied....

We did test them. They have been the de-facto government of the Gaza strip for over 20 years now. We did test them, and the test results came back on October 7th.

The festival venue was changed to a Kibbutz adjacent to Nahal Oz Military Base just two days before the 7 /10 despite warnings from several intelligence services to Netanyahu.

Lets remember a few facts. On october 6 netanyahu was on the verge of signing a contract that would have sealed palestinian fate forever.

This is by far the most interesting interview I have seen for a very long time. Thank you

At least ,they have acknowledged hiding among civilians and launching attacks

Western Hypocrites also tagged Nelson Mandela as a terror!!! 😂😂😂

Occupied resistance under UN definition should not be referred to as terrorists! 🇺🇦🐾🦘🐨🦘🐾🇵🇸

Ukraine war created an alliance for Russia with India, China and Iran which is already working with Lebanon, Iraq, Yemen and Palestine. Note that Russia has a significant presence in Syria. Russia and Iran have been exchanging intelligence and weaponry(Russia has nukes but I don't think they gave Iran any). One proof is that Iranian weapons have been shot in large amounts by Russia in Ukraine. Iran is no friend of the USA and is consequently contributing in fighting it via Russia. Iran also receives hypersonic missiles which can't be intercepted by the jewish dome(Iran needed those in backup in case of the next Israeli response). On April 1st, Israel hit Iran's embassy(or the building adjacent(same difference)) in Damascus killing seven. Iran told USA that it will not respond to the strike if bb stops the genocide. bb declined while knowing that USA can not fight Iran alongside Israel and Israel can not defeat Iran which is backed by many proxies and now Russia and potentially China which can not lose Iran's oil. On April 13, Israel(and proxies) sent over 300 missiles/drones at Israel for the following reasons-In response to Dasmascus strike and to reassure Iran's population.-To acquire intelligence about the functionality of the iron dome which is composed of 3 sol-air systems.-To signal to Israel that Iran can hit it any time anywhere. Note that Iran did not use any hypersonic missiles or any new technology to signal Israel of its total strength. Iran's estimated cost of the attack is under 1 million and Israel's defence cost is 1.3 billion. Israel can't sustain its defence because of the expense and the weapon's availability. Israeli propaganda saying the iron dome intercepted 99% is false. It is meant as usual to reassure the population but other sources stipulate that USA and Jordan intercepted more than Israel. In any case we can conclude that the USA, Jordan and Israel could not avoid Iran hitting its intended targets in Israel. Russia and the USA never were friends but after 2 years of the USA feeding Ukraine in a costly war, Russia is quite fed up with the USA, UK and Germany(nobody gives a shit about the French cowards). There is consequently a high probability that Russia would support Iran and there is no way that USA will shoot at Iran under these conditions as they already warned bb they would not. They may assist intercepting from the sea but this has already been proven not to be enough. Everybody knows the USA's modus operandi today ... feed weapons and intelligence to your ally(proxy) but no boots on the ground(meaning do not shoot directly at the enemy) until there is nothing left(Ukraine is defeated as we speak) or you run out of weaponry which is the case here as you don't need no tanks; The dome will run out of anti ballistic missiles which are available in very limited quantities after Ukraine's war. This, added to the Golan heights, is making lots of rats leave the boat using their second passport. Clear signal of the zionism and bb failure which are hard to keep track of but he certainly failed, defeating Hamas fully knowing it was an impossible goal. The real goal was genocide. He failed recovering hostages not that he tried but why would Hamas give the hostages anyway if bb says he will continue the genocide? I'm not even going into the oct7 intelligence failure as I do not believe it was so but he failed nevertheless and maybe in a worse way than how it is presented. Now that he's failing on all fronts, he hits Lebanon, Syria and Iran(with or without the USA) next!Since bb knows he's dead anyways we can presume he might not mind going out with a bang. IF bb hits Iran, this is the end of the tit for tat(war enriches my vocabulary) game. Everybody knows that if he proceeds, Israel will get hit hard from Iran, Lebanon, Iraq, Yemen, Palestine and most probably Russia if necessary. China would probably play like the USA and only supply weapons if necessary. For 6 months, jews have been kept in the dark using the oct7 bubble. This was a black flag operation. USA has some beef with Russia but why risk American lives with all these Ukrainians available? USA has some beef with Iran but then again they have Israel and everybody knows that if there is one crazy motherfucker that can use a nuke, it's not Putin but the small dickless bb and we have a very precise idea at whom it will aim it which will suit USA fine. The problem has become a clusterfuck; If bb does not shoot Iran, Israel becomes a weak target, bb dies along with zionism, you end up with 2-states, you slowly recover financially and Hamas will come back with a double revenge for the river-sea scenario because of the genocide. In conclusion(and the only reason for this note), what I said in October with my ''youtube'' sources and limited analytic talent stands. You created a prison and lost the keys(one way or the other). Hamas did not start a war, you can't go to war with your prisoners!! So bb should have taken the hit like an adult and negotiated but he decided to drag the whole world in a nightmare.

CNN host is pre-judgmental and, therefore, not the best pick for this interview.

Finally someone takes the time to talk with Hamas instead of about Hamas with labels that divert attention from what their stance is and why. I consider the Israeli regime terrorists and Netanyahu the head of this terrorist organization yet there is a double standard. Recently there was an interview with a leader of the Houthies, and we were able to hear and see a very intelligent knowledgable man explaining why. This double standard of who we chose to listen to is counter productive and it is time to have interviews with these groups of resistance instead of instantly labeling and distracting from the occupying and brutal massacres that continue in Palestine.

If a goal of Hamas was to reduce the moral authority of Israel and the United States, then they succeeded. How could they not know that Israel would, to a basic human frame of mind, overreact? The ruins of Gaza will be a story for years, and every story will maintain an eroding effect on Israel's reputation. That basic human frame of mind comes from the Torah: Deuteronomy 19:21 "Show no pity, life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot." The principle is both a severe deterrent and a limit on vengeance for the greater good. Israel has gone disproportionately beyond this principle because in large measure the United States empowered it to do so. For what it has done, Hamas is not fit to govern Gaza. Something new, without the key Hamas figures, needs to be formed. But thousands of lives and thousands of homes that will cost billions of dollars to restore did not need to be destroyed to reach a just level of vengeance. This will weaken Israel and the United States. Given the anger involved, Israelis and Palestinians will be eye for eye for the foreseeable future. What can be done, is to strengthen courts in the region and pursue and maintain justice for individuals and their property. Reputation and peace can only be built upon such an effort.

How are these people able to enter and leave Gaza and the rest of the Gazans can’t leave?

The CNN broadcaster has missed the whole here: to actually find out from Hamas what actually happened instead of parroting Israeli talking points.

What about the Palestinian children in Israel military prison why is no one talking about the sadistic abuse inflicted on them!!!

Informative interview. The article itself worth a read.

The biggest problem is to discuss with an occupying power. An occupying power has a duty to leave all occupied territories and to respect international law. Israel is responsible for 76 years of oppression. Palestinians have the right to freedom and self-determination.

I confess to chuckling whenever i hear the twin words of hamas and terrorism, three guesses who are the real terrorists that terrorize all of us.

Any one else beside anampour.

So we’re still having people blithely quote Hamas health ministry figures without caveat on major broadcasters. Christianne, have a word.

How biased, uninformed and disappointing the interviewer is! She’s normally quite good on other subjects, but as always the Palestinian issue, or unthinkingly touting the Israeli government line, is the line the liberal media is incapable of crossing.

Why don’t you, PBS, interview Hamas instead of interviewing a journalist who interviewed Hamas? Is it that you are afraid of what Hillary Clinton will say?

The US response to the Israeli strike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus was to veto the UN draft resolution to condemn it…CIA Coup in Iran 1953..,USS Vincennes 1988…Stuxnet 2009 / Three acts of war directed at Iran by the US.

Real Talk: Without the October 7 attack, the Western Media and the world would not be talking about the Palestine issue with such regularity. Israel would be left alone with its agenda of Greater Israel at the cost of the Palestinian people. In that sense alone, Palestinian's interest was again in the world's collective psyche.

Do you know how many Palestinian children are in isrealhell jail

13:00 so, israel is becoming more right-wing??? as an old israeli Lefty, who's been a member of many organizations fighting for a 2-state solution for decades, all I can say is: what did you expect? many israelis who used to think sanity would prevail if we tried hard enough, have given up. are now saying 'can we speak w/ those who burned families alived, raped and beheaded and put it all online?' and even agreeing w/ our old enemy netanyahoo that 'you can't reward them for oct 7'.

Also she ignored or did not understand what was meant by chaos .. Al Jazeera has a much better piece that talks about this .. they explained two important things .. the music festival was unscheduled and not part of a plan so it was not specifically targeted and when they encountered so many people partying in the desert fighters did not have the discipline to maintain order when confronted with so many people 2nd - the IDF reputation had prepared them for a fierce resistance so they had not expected they would have almost NO resistance and overrun the military installations and have unchallenged freedom of movement to penetrate so deeply into Israel and the Kibbutzes

No israelis turned into gaza and west bank after intifadas murders and many suicide bombs in the 2000s and earlier and butcheted a bunch of civilian palestonians as a way of "resisting" the terrorist attacks. So this resistance is BS. Israelis also have loads to grieve and fight back against.

Wouldn’t this guy be unalived by Hamas because of his preference of a husband over a wife? I’m confused on why he continues doing these videos

Will sharia law implemented in America or not

question: Of the people at the music festival, how many were IDF or military? active duty or reserves

The host is very biased and does not come across as having in depth knowledge of the situation. She did not seem to be aware that Israel has hostages as well.. children as young as 12 held without trial and incommunicado.. she also seems surprised that Hamas would pay attention to USA politics as the state level.. she spoke about them as if they were an amorphous entity and not a resistance organization.. also the thing that is ignored is What are they resisting? It is obvious to say if there is a fierce resistance that has gone on this long, there must be a cause .. this interviewer seemed surprised that they are human and the mass casualty of the Palestinians is just a footnote .. the Israel occupation is brutal and the Palestinian situation is unbearable.. of course they would fight and have the right to resist

Likewise, what does Isr-rael from the river to the see means ?

Our leadership in the West led by the US is simply refusing to read the message underlying all of this death and violence. The will of the M.E populations is ironically being reflected by the unpopular Islamic Regime in Tehran. Even if HAMAS capitulated today, stepped forward and introduced each member to the IDF for execution - Even if the Palestinians in the geography or abroad unanimously accepted a two state solution and even if Israel too accepted it at the same time - Even if all the hatchets were miraculously buried between Israelis and Palestinians - Even if the despot governances of the fractured Arabian Peninsula signed a peace accord with Israel and the US - IT WOULD NOT MAKE A BLIND BIT OF DIFFERENCE TO THE TELEGRAM. The will of the populations of the M.E says NO ISRAEL and NO US IN THE M.E. As Iran becomes militarily stronger - at a snail speed owing to the crippling sanctions placed upon it, now in its 45th year - the retention of Israel and the US presence in the M.E is becoming ever more untenable. There is NO REVERSE GEAR, there is no half way point - there is no negotiating. This is a binary simplicity - either the US and its allies give up presence in the M.E - either Israel and Palestine dissolve into one country where all are equal in rights irrespective of religion - or we will eventually encounter the will of the populations of the M.E in a tectonic war. It is up to all of us to choose the ending of this saga - one ending is very bad for the West economically and one ending is the ending for us all when M.A.D is triggered. Soon it will be time to choose - survival or destruction. This is also the resultant end pertaining to Russia - Ukraine and China - Taiwan issues both with different architecture of facts but both leaving us with same choice for an ending. Personally as a nobody I have no say - but I would like to end my days knowing that humans actually talked about the real issues instead of the minutiae adorning the ugly face of the real problems - like what HAMAS did and what HAMAS or Israel want!!

Let's not forget that Isreal and hamas are two sides of the same coin. They both have people in their ranks and leadership who want to wipe out the other side. They both have people in their ranks who say the other has no claim to the land and so their country doesn't exist. They both use terror and torture as a means to destroy the other side. The difference is only one side didn't immigrate to the middle east and displace people who had lived there for generations. Only one side holds more than one passport that they can use to travel freely from their true country of origin back to the middle east. It's clear to me that one side is terrorizing while the other is trying to survive under brutal conditions. It's too bad so many more don't understand that.

You forgot that Plo was also terrorists before Oslo accords .So Israel dealed before with that fenomenon of so called transformation from terrorist to politician .Is it worth it ?

The interviewer is not just ignorant, but totally incompetent. Hamas may be terrible, but this interview is about repeating Israel talking points, NOT getting to some truth.

We still hold so much collective outrage over October 7 justifying a response that’s lead to a genocide and starvation of over a million people.

Why would she even ask if they said anything about mass r××× policy on oct 7? When that has been completely debunked on so many levels by now.

Why would hamas want to hold on the the hostages,? They have achieved more than ever could be expected with support from foreign people and governments wanting to give sovereign status support for their world recognition.the hostages are jeopardizing this process of recognition.send them back

Frankly. Al Jazeera does a better job of reporting about hamas leadership. Besides, do you really think that hamas leaders have time to blabber to journalists?

Perhaps the ONLY reason civilians were harmed is because Hamas never IMAGINED it would take 6-8 unbelievable HOURS before the IDF finally showed up.

This flamboyant interviewee reminded me very much of kzfaq.info/get/bejne/eZeDqaiFuMDQpqM.htmlsi=otbnCkqu0s1MN-vQ and deserves to be taken about as seriously

well i must say i condemn Hamas.

The vast majority of the people at the concert were current or former IDF soldiers. They were at the concert as civilians, but they were active duty or reservists. 45% of Hamas victims that day were military targets. 45% of IDF victims in Gaza are children, 90% are civilians. Don't forget that there were gangs that took advantage of the fence breach to enter Israel, and at least the one jeep full of African militants who abducted Naama Levy. Don't forget that ZACA has retracted their "40 beheaded babies" claim, and has admitted that their rape allegations have zero evidence gathered and were based on assumptions and a goal of getting donations. One little swab showing male DNA would go a long way to convincing me, but not a single one was obtained.

The host is clearly pro Israel and see; disappointing and biased.

The amount of virtue signaling in every single question is nauseating!

There are only 20 hostages left?😢😥😓😰😭

Hamas and Gaza so called innocent citizens, this is for you: Starting a war and then loosing it, does not make you a victim. Remember it, because you do the same mistake again and again and again. And now you are asking for cease fire????

Sickening interviewer

It’s a joke 😂

Of course it was worth it. They were in prison.

As if i did not abhor Hamas enough. Smh. They dont care about their own people.

Bullshit I'm gone

If Hamas is the civilian population, then who are the Hamas leaders who sit in Qatar? And who was in the Iranian embassy that Israel attacked and Iran retaliated against? I feel terrible about what happens to Palestinians, but every day Israel authorized 20,000 of them to enter Israel and work in an effort to help stabilize the area by helping more Gaza families, and I believe that ended now so the Gaza population is punished again by Hamas' actions. And Hamas blames Israel for not having enough defenses to prevent them from committing so many atrocities? That's a pretty crazy way to look at it. I guess Israel should never have allowed any Palestinians in to work. Hamas believes it has been worth all the casualties, but most folks still seem to blame Israel for what's going on. I think if Hamas gave the hostages back that Israel would stop their ground offensive immediately. So who really has control of the situation?

🇮🇱❤️🇮🇱

Pizza Hut or Domino.

Does she know the definition of Terrorism? What Hamas did it's not different from what the IDF is doing, so did the US in Iraq,

Israel must leave Palestine

A weak west panders to Islamofascists A strong west gives Israel the greenlight to finish the war Palestine started in 47'. The real "free Palestine" are the 2 million Palestinians who are Israeli citizens. They are the freest Muslims in the middle east. The non-Israeli Palestinians will never be free under Islamic autocracy.

What a load of rubbish

Hanas was elected? Are you conveniently dense?

Too nauseating to listen to

A very insightful interview that merely confirms that the people of Gaza are Hamas. They elected Hamas as well as allowing the violent rejection and ejection of a more moderate PLO opposition. It also confirms that in spite of the current denials and blame shifting by Gazan supporters, the general populace engaged actively in 7/10 or were complicit in some way.

Lies upon lies

Always 2 black people talking about other black people and dismiss their real struggles.

9:02 They are willing to go to the negotiating table. But they're not going to acknowledge Israel's right to exist. So, would it be wise for Israel to agree to a Palestinian land whose citizens will always try to destroy it?

I noticed C.Amanpour always puts someone in between herself (the interviewer) and the interviewee whenever the interviewie is from a diverse background. Is this a sign of racism? I have always admired the interviewer on CNN but is gradually losing the admiration for the perceived lack of sincerity on the part of popular CNN political observer.

note: the time he had to spend justifying his talking to Hamas.

The interviewer is just foaming with hate and bias , she should hold back her vulgar expressions

Note: why is it important to talk to Hamas? Answer. It is not important. Your listeners do not want to hear anything Hamas might say. If they want to know the truth they can listen to what Israel has to say, or to Blinken. After all it is not ok to interview Putin, so therefore why would you allow on your show a Hamas enabler. Just ask Hillary Clinton she will explain this to you. It is pretty sad that you have to justify an interview with Hamas. But you are part of this problem.