In a November 13, 2023 article in the Saudi daily Okaz, titled "They Hide in Their Tunnels and Sell Out Their People For a Paltry Price," journalist Musa’ad Al-Thobaiti condemned the fighters of the Hamas miliary wing, who hide in tunnels in Gaza, as well as Hamas' leaders abroad, who stay in luxury hotels, saying that they all forsake their people instead of fighting Israel. The Hamas leaders, he added, and Hizbullah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, resemble numerous other leaders of terrorist organizations, such as Al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden and the Islamic State (ISIS) leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, who hid in tunnels or in fortified houses with the members of their family while leaving their supporters alone in the fray. Al-Thobaiti lamented the fact that the Islamic nation is deceived by “a gang of cowards and traders in blood” who sell their people illusions and bring them nothing but death and destruction.
Musa'ad Al-Thobaiti's article (Image: Twitter.com/OKAZ_online, November 13, 2023)
The following are translated excerpts from Al-Thobaiti’s article:[1]
"Before America's invasion of Afghanistan, [the late Al-Qaeda founder Osama] bin Laden, fearing for his life, used to hide in the caves of Tora Bora. He chose fortified caves for himself, his children and his wives, and for the elite [of his organization], so they could save their lives, while leaving his followers [to face] the American missiles. After [the Americans] invaded [Afghanistan], he arranged a fortified house for himself in Pakistan…, and sufficed with prompting and goading the simple folk to wage terror, while he himself lived peacefully with his four wives, one of which was a minor he had brought to pleasure him while he oversaw [the terror activity] from his Pakistan home.
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"[The late Iraqi president] Saddam Hussein also lived in a tunnel after the U.S. invaded his country, and hid in a hole, from which he was [eventually] dragged in disgrace, while his army and people faced the death and the destruction that ensued.
"The same goes for [the late ISIS leader] Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, who wallowed in bloodshed and sent his savage beasts to carry out acts that even the cruelest criminals do not perpetrate, but dug himself a tunnel near Mosul, under a cattle pen, in order to save himself, obviously along with his wife and family.
"What happened in the past is now happening again. Mr. Resistance [i.e., Hizbullah secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah] hides in tunnels while urging his followers to die in the service of his patron [Iran], having completely destroyed [Lebanon], the country that used to be the jewel of the east.
"Hamas leaders, along with their children, live in luxury in five-star hotels [in Qatar], and have immeasurable wealth, and at the same time give high-flown speeches about resistance. As for [Hamas] fighters, after bringing death and destruction upon the Gazans, they hid themselves in tunnels and left the Gazans to face their fate [alone], exposed to the cruelest Israeli weapons and to a merciless army.
"When the Israeli forces entered Gaza, they did not have to fight in the streets, as they had expected, for the soldiers of [the Hamas military wing, the Izz Al-Din] Al-Qassam [Brigades], preferred to stay alive and forgot their claim that 'Gaza will become the graveyard of the occupier,' which they had used to drug the Arabs. [Instead] Gaza became the graveyard of the weak Palestinians, and it's quite possible that the members of Hamas left the tunnels and traveled to other countries.
"Sadly, these are the people whom the [Islamic] nation praises. A group of cowards and traders in blood, who are the root of the disaster of this region. A genuine, brave and devoted commander stands with his followers and leads them. These guys are interested [only] in the vanities of this world, yet there are people who are deceived by them, people who have lost their minds and are fighting for nothing and losing their lives for leaders who have sold them out for a paltry price – and behind them is a nation that has become addicted to shouting and warnings and is hanging on to anyone who sells it illusions."
[1] Okaz (Saudi Arabia), November 13, 2023.
