Hello, it's Magna Chakrabardi, host of On Point, and before we start today's episode,

I want to share a quick word about it. You'll be hearing a recording of On Point

as it was broadcast live on Monday, October 16th. This episode features Khaled Hube,

a professor at Northwestern University in Qatar and a research associate at the center of

Islamic studies at the University of Cambridge. Professor Hube has written multiple books about

Hamas and was on the program to provide a factual history of the Islamist group. As the program

progressed, Professor Hube expressed doubt that women and children had been killed by Hamas

in its October 7th attack on Israel. I countered that moment with statements of fact to correct

the record, but that does not negate the impact of hearing Professor Hube's statements.

On Point strives to contribute thoughtfully to the public discourse, and in an environment where

misinformation is both rampant and dangerous, we want to acknowledge that this episode of On Point

fell short of our editorial standards. It is very important for us to be transparent about that.

Since the episode has already been broadcast live, the content is out there, and we don't want to

hide from that fact. Our relationship with you is important, so should you decide to listen to

this episode? I want to reiterate that we know it falls short of our standards and that we are

committed to continuously improving what we do. This is On Point, I'm Meghnachakrabardi.

The United States calls Hamas a foreign terrorist organization. It is also a political party,

and the ruling party in Gaza. It also carried out the most devastating attack on Israeli

internal security in that country's history, and now Israel is retaliating with the full might of

its military, and a ground war is expected soon. Israel says nothing short of the total eradication

of Hamas will suffice, and Hamas has called for the destruction of Israel since its founding.

So today, we want to get a deeper understanding of Hamas. It's creation, what it stands for,

...