Cairo: The Hamas attack on Israel that triggered the Gaza war has stirred debate among the enclave’s Palestinian clerics, with some saying it was not worth the heavy civilian death toll and others declaring the October 7, 2023 assault was an Islamic duty.

Responding on an online messaging platform to questions sent by Gazans, prominent preacher Suleiman al-Dayya said Muslim leaders should avoid going into battles if the harm inflicted upon civilians was greater than the gains.

He said warriors should question the wisdom of fighting if it increased the harm to religion, life, honour, children or wealth or the seizure of land, let alone the destruction of the “foundations of life”.

Dayya’s views are well respected in Gaza among both ordinary residents and Islamists, and he also has influence with Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. A decade ago, he issued a fatwa for Palestinians to honour the Egypt-brokered ceasefire that ended the 2012 Gaza War.

A former senior member of the Muslim Brotherhood, the oldest Islamist movement in the Arab world, Dayya was also close to Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, co-founder and leader of the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

“When it becomes highly likely that the objectives and aims of jihad [a war Muslims consider just] will not be achieved due to the absence or deficiency of its pillars, causes or conditions, it must be avoided,” he said.

The 2023 attack on Israel, which shattered Israel’s aura of invincibility, marked the country’s bloodiest day in its history, with about 1200 people killed and over 250 taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies.

Israel responded with its most destructive offensive in Gaza, killing nearly 44,000 people and wounding some 104,000, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, and turning the Strip into a wasteland of rubble with millions desperate for food, fuel, water and sanitation.