Admittedly, it was an unorthodox way to spend Rosh Hashanah: in the company of a man who, as head of Hamas, has overseen kidnappings, rocket attacks, and suicide bombings that have claimed the lives of hundreds of Israelis. In fact, as a reporter covering a particularly bloody spate of violence during the spring of 2002, I can recall watching first responders, armed with tweezers, literally picking up the pieces of Hamas’s handiwork.

The 58-year-old former physics teacher assumed the reigns of Hamas in 2004 after Israel’s back-to-back assassinations of his predecessors. Khalid Mishal had his own brush with death seven years earlier, in September 1997, when, in one of the most over-engineered assassination attempts in espionage history, a squad of Mossad operatives approached him on the streets of Amman, Jordan, and sprayed a lethal toxin into his left ear. The fiasco that followed—in which Israel turned over an antidote in exchange for the release of the would-be assassins—established Mishal as a player within Hamas and laid the groundwork for what, 17 years later, remains a palpable loathing for the man who ordered the hit: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Upon arrival at Mishal's residence in Doha, Qatar—which serves as both home and office—I am obliged to give security officers my bag. They also disable my cell phone. Mishal then settles in for a two-hour interview, portions of which appear here.

Vanity Fair: I thought maybe we’d start with your thoughts about the allied campaign in Syria, which was formerly the home to Hamas. What are your thoughts about the U.S.-led coalition against ISIS?

Khalid Mishal: I spent some of the most important years of my life in Syria. A big part of Hamas’s course was shaped there, and I am pained by what the country is going through today. . . . Much of what’s happening does not serve the interests of regional countries and their people. Indeed, we are against ideological, political, or military extremism. We are for moderation. We are against any aggression, or any killing of innocent human beings, regardless of their beliefs or race.

We believe in the right to resistance against the occupation. This is a legitimate right of the people, as with the Palestinian people. Any people that come under foreign occupation have the right to resistance. But random killings on all fronts, and extremism, this is something we’re against. This, however, is not something that can be resolved by forming coalitions like the one we have today, which is led by the United States. . . . Biased U.S. foreign policies toward Israel, and its policies in the region over the last few years, is also a form of extremism. Extremism is condemned, irrespective of who is wielding it.

As for what happened this past summer, with the war in Gaza, the numbers are pretty high. Twenty-one hundred Palestinians are dead. Over 20,000 houses destroyed. Do you consider this summer’s war with Israel to be a victory?

Netanyahu, because of his cabinet’s internal problems and because of the public anger against him, opted to escalate the situation in Gaza. He sought to score a victory over his political opponents and in front of the Israeli people, so he carried out his aggression. . . .

Victims did fall, true. But, we did not launch a war based on some calculations, then discovered that we incurred losses. The war was imposed on us and we simply defended ourselves . . . we are saddened by the loss of lives, but who should bear responsibility? It’s the Israelis: politicians, military, and security leaders. As for us, we stood our ground in this war. We thwarted Netanyahu’s plot.