Hamas will rise 'like a phoenix' from the ashes.

One year after the Hamas attack that led to the war, Meshaal viewed the conflict with Israel as part of a larger 76-year story, beginning with what Palestinians call "Nakba" or "catastrophe," when many were displaced in the 1948 war that accompanied the founding of Israel.

"Palestinian history is made up of cycles," Meshaal, 68, a senior Hamas figure under general leader Yahya Sinwar, told Reuters in an interview.

"We went through periods of losing martyrs and losing some of our military capabilities, but then the spirit of the Palestinian people rose again, like the phoenix, by God's grace."

Meshaal, who survived an Israeli assassination attempt in 1997 after being lethally injected and served as the general leader of Hamas from 1996-2017, said the Islamist militant group continues to recruit fighters and produce weapons to continue ambushing Israeli troops.

Hamas also fired four rockets into the Gaza Strip on the morning of October 7th, marking the one-year anniversary of Hamas's offensive in southern Israel. However, all were intercepted by the Israeli side.

"We have lost some ammunition and weapons, but Hamas is still recruiting young people and continues to produce a significant portion of its own ammunition and weapons," Meshaal said, but provided no further details.

Meshaal still wields influence within the Hamas militant group, having played a key role in the organization's leadership for nearly three decades and now considered its diplomatic face. Middle East analysts say his comments appear to signal that the group will fight regardless of the cost.

Joost Hiltermann, Director of the North Africa and Middle East Programme at the International Crisis Group in Brussels, said: "Overall, I think Hamas is still alive and active and could return to the Gaza Strip at some point."

Joost Hiltermann added that Israel has not yet presented a concrete plan for the Gaza Strip when the war ends, and this could allow Hamas to re-establish itself, albeit perhaps not as powerfully or in the same form.

According to Israeli statistics, Israel began its offensive against Hamas after approximately 1,200 people were killed and around 250 were taken hostage in a Hamas attack on October 7 last year.

Meanwhile, Palestinian health officials said that much of the Gaza Strip had been devastated and around 42,000 Palestinians had been killed in the attack.

Israel says Hamas no longer exists as an organized military structure and has been reduced to guerrilla tactics. According to Israeli officials, around 17,000 Hamas fighters have died in the Gaza Strip, while about 350 Israeli soldiers have been killed in the conflict.

Meshaal said he saw no prospect of peace as long as Prime Minister Netanyahu's government remained in power. Israel blames Hamas, whose charter calls for the destruction of Israel, for failing to ensure peace.

Meshaal said: "As long as the Israeli occupation continues, this area will remain a ticking time bomb."