According to media sources, top Hamas figures acknowledged the organization's intention to wage an ongoing war in Israel to support the Palestinian cause, but they had no interest in controlling the Gaza Strip or enhancing the lives of its two million citizens, the bulk of whom are impoverished.

Member of Hamas' senior leadership body Khalil al-Hayya praised the terror group's unexpected multi-pronged attack on Israeli civilians on October 7 in interviews with the New York Times, which led Israel to retaliate militarily. He told the Qatari publication, "We managed to bring the Palestinian issue back to the table, and as a result, there is no peace in the region anymore."

According to the study, Hamas' senior leadership also showed little interest in ruling Gaza or offering its citizens basic amenities. "I hope that the Arab world will stand with us and that the state of war with Israel will become permanent on all the borders," Taher El-Nounou, a communications consultant for Hamas, stated. Its objective, he continued, is "not to run Gaza and to bring it water and electricity and such."

"Hamas, the Qassam, and the resistance woke the world up from its deep sleep and showed that this issue must remain on the table," he added. "We didn't fight this war because we needed manpower or fuel. It had no intention of making things better in Gaza. The objective of this fight is to totally overturn the circumstances.