Senior Hamas official Khaled Meshal in an interview with the New York Times said that Hamas is not under any pressure to reach a cease-fire at any cost, and will not give up its principles. Meshal rejected the Palestinian criticism of the October 7 attack, saying that "we have to fight until liberation." Meashal added that the destruction in Gaza is a "price" that must be paid for freedom, and claimed: "Before October 7, Gaza was dying a slow death. We were in a big prison and we wanted to get rid of this situation." On the "day after" he said that Israel and the U.S. will realize that Hamas is not going anywhere."