In a public address, a Kuwaiti cleric on Sunday criticized Hamas over the deaths of civilians in Gaza, calling on the group to “show some regard for the lives of the Muslims who were killed.”

The address by Othman Al-Khamis was translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI).

“More than 2,000 Muslims were killed, and over 10,000 wounded. Who is responsible for that? What were they killed for? How many Jews did we hit? How many Jews were killed in return? Not even a hundred. Not even 75,” he said.

“What did we get in exchange for all those bombs and Muslim casualties? The blockade? The blockade has been there since 2006. It's nothing new. The blockade will not be lifted by this war, just like the previous war did not lift it,” added Al-Khamis.

One must look at things rationally, and deal with things as they really are. They say: ‘The blockade is killing us. It's better to die [fighting].’ Not true! Count how many were killed from 2006 to the first war, in 2008, and then from the end of the war in 2009 until the 2014, and compare it to the number of casualties now. In one month, more people were killed than in the past seven years,” he noted.

“You should not fight the enemy if you have no chance of winning. It's about winning, not about dying. Muslims fight not in order to die, but in order to win. That's the principle. Therefore, if the Muslims are weak, they are not allowed to fight.”

Last week, MEMRI released another video, this time by a French-Moroccan Imam who lashed out at Hamas for using civilians as human shields.

The Imam, Rachid Birbach, said that Gazans were caught between a rock and a hard place: between the Israeli bombardments and the "even more terrible" abuse and siege by Hamas.

Hamas has openly boasted about the "success" of its strategy of using civilians as human shields during Operation Protective Edge, and the IDF has published extensive evidence of the practice.

By contrast, the IDF has dropped leaflets, sent phone messages, and issued general warnings to all civilians within range of upcoming airstrikes to prevent further harm.