Hamas speaker Khaled Mashal, when facing critical questions by YouTuber Amar Takei, justified hiding behind civilians by characterising Hamas’ war against Israel as defensive jihad, jihad al-dafa’a. Unlike in offensive jihad, jihad al-talab, in defensive jihad there would be a duty for every Muslim to participate. This seems to imply, for example, that families are told by Hamas not to evacuate when being advised so by Israeli forces as a measure of precaution, because it would be the duty for all these civilians (even small children?) to participate in the defensive jihad in this way.
For context: defensive jihad is a widely accepted Muslim concept which can also be likened to the notion of defensive war in international law and to Jewish, Aristotelian or Christian notions of defensive war. Sayyid Qutb, one of the ideological fathers of Hamas and many strains of modern Jihadism, strongly defended the notion that offensive jihad—without excluding the methods of the sword, and when religious leaders neglect offensive jihad, even without permission from the leaders—is also of key importance, while at the same time ambiguously trying to expand the notion of defensive jihad to the fight against all kinds of “tyrannies” which would impede the spreading of Islam by peaceful means. While Daesh/ISIS strongly appeals to offensive jihad lead by their “Caliph”, both Hamas but also al-Qaeda seem to emphasise their inflated notions of self-defense, such that even indiscriminate, murderous acts against civilians like the October 7th or September 11th attacks are understood to be part of defensive jihad.
By the way religious Jewish Israelis have also been discussing the war in Gaza in religious terms, as a milchemet hovah, an obligatory war, which unlike the milchemet reshut, a discretionary war, does not require authorisation by the no longer existing Sanhedrin court (while Muslims are lacking a Caliph which could order offensive jihad).
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