Hamas leader abroad Khaled Mashal discussed the international impact of the October 7 attack on an October 26, 2023 show on Sada Elbalad TV (Egypt). He said that the Russians have benefited from the October 7 attack because it has been keeping the U.S. distracted from the war in Ukraine. Mashal continued to claim that the Russians have said that the attack would be taught in military academies. He further said that the Chinese are considering carrying out such an attack against Taiwan. In another part of the show, Mashal stated he hopes Hizbullah will fully join the war, and he added that it will make a “real difference.” He stated that Hamas is demanding this from its friends.
Khaled Mashal: "There is no doubt that if Hizbullah joins in, it would make a real difference. We hope that this happens, but the decision is theirs. Since the beginning of the Zionist aggression and this genocidal war, they have kept the enemy busy in the northern Palestinian front. They are clashing with the enemy and the battles are constantly escalating, but they have yet to evolve into a complete engagement and an all-out war, which would split the enemy and force it to fight on two or more fronts. We are still demanding [this] from Hizbullah and from our friends and nation.
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"We want the Arab communities in the West to be active, and [we want] cooperation with superpowers like China and Russia. For your information, Russia has benefitted from our [attack], because we distracted the U.S. from them and from Ukraine. China saw [our attack] as a dazzling example. The Russians told us that what happened on October 7 would be taught in military academies. The Chinese are thinking of carrying out a plan in Taiwan, doing what the Al-Qassam Brigades did on October 7. The Arabs are giving the world a master class."