Gaza (CNN)A senior member of Hamas' political bureau said during a TV interview on Wednesday that 50 people killed by Israeli soldiers during clashes in Gaza on Monday were members of Hamas.
Salah al-Bardaweel was responding to suggestions from the interviewer that Hamas, the militant group that runs Gaza, was sending other people to die in the protests.
"In the last round [of demonstrations] 62 people were martyred; 50 of them are from Hamas and 12 from the people," al-Bardaweel replied, adding, "I am telling you, these are official numbers."
Israeli officials have seized on the comment as supporting their position that the demonstrations at the fence separating Gaza from Israel are directed by Hamas.

White House blames Hamas for dozens of deaths in Gaza protests
White House blames Hamas for dozens of deaths in Gaza protests
Israel Defense Forces spokesman Jonathan Conricus tweeted a clip from the interview and wrote, "Senior Hamas official sets the record straight on who was killed in last Hamas-orchestrated riots: '50 of the 62 martyrs were Hamas.' Take his word for it. This was not peaceful protest."


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Gaza (CNN)A senior member of Hamas' political bureau said during a TV interview on Wednesday that 50 people killed by Israeli soldiers during clashes in Gaza on Monday were members of Hamas.
Salah al-Bardaweel was responding to suggestions from the interviewer that Hamas, the militant group that runs Gaza, was sending other people to die in the protests.
"In the last round [of demonstrations] 62 people were martyred; 50 of them are from Hamas and 12 from the people," al-Bardaweel replied, adding, "I am telling you, these are official numbers."

Israeli officials have seized on the comment as supporting their position that the demonstrations at the fence separating Gaza from Israel are directed by Hamas.

Israel Defense Forces spokesman Jonathan Conricus tweeted a clip from the interview and wrote, "Senior Hamas official sets the record straight on who was killed in last Hamas-orchestrated riots: '50 of the 62 martyrs were Hamas.' Take his word for it. This was not peaceful protest."

Israel's government said Bardawil had proven that its forces had acted appropriately in response to the mass attempt to cross the border with Gaza. Israel has repeatedly claimed that Hamas uses weekly border protests as cover to stage terror attacks.

"It was clear to Israel and now it is clear to the whole world that there was no popular protest; this was an organized mob of terrorists organized by Hamas," said Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel had tallied similar numbers to Hamas', and "won't let those who call for our destruction to breach our borders and to threaten our communities."

In response to the uproar over his remarks, Bardawil later said in a statement that Israel was "legitimizing the killing of Palestinians just because they are Palestinians or just because they are Hamas, even if they were unarmed and defending their dignity and rights."

On Tuesday, the Israeli Army released a video that appeared to show protesters detonating several explosions near the border. It also said its forces had killed a squad of Hamas gunmen who opened fire at troops.

Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus, a military spokesman, said 14 of those killed Monday were actively involved in carrying out attacks.