Most Hamas officers I’ve met or spoken to in latest weeks acknowledge that the principle objectives set by the motion after the 7 October assault on Israel haven’t been achieved.
These included stopping the growth of Israeli settlements within the West Financial institution and Jerusalem, establishing a Palestinian state, liberating all Palestinian prisoners and lifting the siege on Gaza.
Nonetheless, they insist that Israel’s failure to get rid of Hamas or take away it from the political scene constitutes a victory.
“Israel promised to get rid of Hamas, however now they’re sitting in the identical constructing with Hamas leaders and negotiating with them,” a senior Hamas official informed me in a cellphone name earlier than the ceasefire was introduced.
I put to him that Gaza was in ruins, Israel had killed tens of 1000’s and eradicated most of Hamas’s leaders – how did they contemplate this a victory?
The official replied: “By way of numbers, Gaza has paid an unimaginable value. However when it comes to positive factors and losses, Israel failed to interrupt the need of the Palestinians, the resistance, or to push the folks overseas.”
He described the assault by the group, which is proscribed as a terrorist organisation by the UK and different nations, because the “largest navy and safety blow” in Israel’s historical past. “Nothing can change that.”
In Gaza, folks’s reactions are conflicted. Tears and jubilation intermingle, reflecting each reduction that the demise toll might quickly cease rising and concern of the unsure future which awaits 1.2 million individuals who have misplaced their properties, faculties, universities and hospitals.
The talk in Gaza about 7 October, when round 1,200 folks have been killed and 251 others taken hostage, has continued all through the struggle and intensified after the ceasefire was introduced.
Some defend Hamas, claiming its survival alone is sufficient to name it a victory, whereas others criticise the motion, arguing that the unprecedented value paid by Palestinians constitutes a defeat.
Mohammed Imad al-Din, a barber in Gaza Metropolis pressured to flee to Khan Younis along with his spouse and kids together with greater than one million others, informed the BBC: “If killing 46,000 folks, displacement and destruction is a victory, then I hope the leaders of Hamas can clarify the which means of defeat.
“I am relieved, however positively not pleased as a result of the long run is unsure.”
In the meantime, Saifjan Al-Shami, a health care provider on the Islamic College of Gaza, stated on Fb she was “stunned by any Palestinian, particularly a Gazan, who doesn’t acknowledge the victory of his nation and mocks those that say we gained.
“Sure, Gaza gained, and Hamas gained. Hey, have you learnt the standards for victory earlier than you converse? You will need to overview your self, your patriotism and your loyalty to Gaza. Gaza gained regardless of the spite of the haters.”
For now it’s too early to evaluate whether or not the struggle will finish after the primary stage of the ceasefire settlement.
The vast majority of Gazans really feel that the sound of gunfire might quickly fall silent, however the sounds of struggling, remorse and ache will proceed for generations to return.
