In his column in the Al-Watan daily, Palestinian journalist Samir Al-Barghouti called the Hamas attack against Israel “a first-class, high-quality military operation” reminiscent of the Prophet Muhammad's attack on the Jews of Khaybar in 628.”[1]
The following are excerpts from his column:
“Like the Prophet when he decided to attack [the Jews of] Khaybar and raised his finger and said, 'Allah akbar, Allah akbar, Allah akbar, if we enter their territory, evil and bitter will be fate,’[2] at six in the evening [on October 6, 2023] the men [of the Palestinian resistance] said their sunset prayers and then began to prepare themselves throughout the night. At six in the morning [on October 7, 2023] they attacked the Khaybar of Gaza [i.e. the communities in the Gaza envelope]…
“Missiles pounded the Zionist enemy from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv and from the north to the south of occupied Palestine. More than 500 Israelis were wounded, more than 20 were killed and dozens were taken hostage. [The operatives] reached the land that was occupied in 1948, the settlers fled through the deserts and Zionist settlers and soldiers were taken prisoner.
“This is a first-class, high-quality military operation that sends a message to the occupier and to all those who try to eliminate the most important variable in the issue of Middle East peace, namely the fighters of the Palestinian resistance. The monster [i.e., Israel] has become terrified of the revolution of the giants who formulated a plan to sweep all the Zionists out of Palestine along with all the [Arabs] who have become Zionists.
“This is a message to everyone: Have no fear, we will be the ones who to vanquish those whose instill fear. Oh Muhammad Deif, how beautiful you are when you are clear and explicit, as you were when you conveyed your message to the Zionists, namely that every act of aggression against our mothers at Al-Aqsa [i.e. the murabitat[3]] will exact a high price, and that the cries of ‘Allahu akbar, Allahu akbar,’ uttered by a murabita at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem being dragged [along the ground] by the Zionist army, will be met with a harsh response. And this was the response.
“We who follow this victory on television should take to [the streets] in Amman, Cairo, Baghdad and in all the Arab capitals to support this resistance, which on October 7 recorded a victory the likes of which has not been achieved since October 1973.
"‘…If you support Allah He will support you…’ [Quran 47:7] The word of Allah is the truth.”[4]
Graphic posted on a Telegram channel affiliated with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ). The caption reads 'Al-Aqsa Flood' (Hamas' name for the October 7 attack) (Source: MithaqMedia, October 8, 2023)
[1] Khaybar is an oasis in the Arabian Peninsula. In the attack on the Jews of Khaybar, the Prophet's army slaughtered 100 Jews who refused to convert to Islam. The others surrendered and agreed to pay a Muhammad a poll tax and one-half of the produce of their fields. The war-cry repeated by some Muslims, “Khaybar, Khaybar oh Jews, the army of Muhammad will return,” is a reference to this incident.
[2] A reference to Quran 37:177.
[3] The murabitoun (literally, "fighters on the front lines"), and their feminine counterparts, the murabitat, are groups of Palestinian activists at the Al-Aqsa compound who maintain a constant presence there to prevent and protest against the entry of Jews.
[4] Al-Watan (Qatar), October 8, 2023.
