The Iran-backed Palestinian terror group Hamas said earlier this week that it has delivered a "positive response" to mediators on the latest US proposal for a Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal with Israel. The group's leaders, however, continue to talk about the need to continue the "armed struggle" against Israel. For Hamas, the "armed struggle" means launching more terror attacks against Israel and murdering as many Jews as possible. Hamas leaders, in addition, continue to stress that they refuse to lay down their weapons.
In a recent interview with Hamas's unofficial mouthpiece, the Qatari state-owned television empire Al-Jazeera, senior Hamas official Mahmoud Mardawi said:
"Hamas and the Palestinian resistance factions will not lay down their weapons. We will continue to exert pressure on the Zionist enemy through the armed struggle. We met with the Palestinian factions in Cairo and agreed to escalate the confrontation and the struggle. What other choice do we have? Surrender? Gaza will not surrender. The Palestinian resistance sticks to its positions. Resistance is the only way to confront the enemy."
Mardawi does not live in the Gaza Strip. He and most of the Hamas leaders are based in Qatar and Turkey. From there, they continue to issue calls to the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip to step up the "armed struggle" against Israel. These leaders are determined to fight Israel to the last Palestinian. They do not care about the suffering of the Palestinians, especially those living in the Gaza Strip. They do not care because they and their families lead comfortable lives in Qatar and Turkey.
The war in the Gaza Strip started on October 7, 2023, when thousands of Hamas terrorists invaded Israel and murdered 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals, wounded thousands and kidnapped 251 men, women and children. Hamas terrorists continue to hold 50 hostages, of whom only 20 are believed to be alive.
Nearly two years later, Hamas remains as defiant as ever. When its leaders say the "armed struggle" will continue, they are actually threatening to launch more attacks similar to the October 7 atrocities. Two weeks after the October 7 attack, senior Hamas official Ghazi Hamad, based in Qatar, said:
"We must teach Israel a lesson, and will do this again and again. The Al-Aqsa Flood [the name Hamas uses to describe the massacre] is just the first time, and there will be a second, a third, a fourth, because we have the determination, the resolve, and the capabilities to fight."
If Hamas is indeed ready to accept a ceasefire, the reason is not because it wants to stop the death and destruction in the Gaza Strip. Rather, Hamas wants to ensure that it will be able to continue ruling the Gaza Strip after the war. Hamas wants to stay in power and hold on to its weapons so it can pursue its jihad (holy war) to murder Jews and destroy Israel. This has been Hamas's goal since its establishment more than three decades ago. In its 1988 charter, Hamas describes itself as "one of the wings of Muslim Brotherhood in Palestine." At the beginning of the charter, Hamas quotes Hassan al-Banna, the Egyptian founder of the Muslim Brotherhood terrorist organization as saying: "Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it."
Hamas took advantage of previous ceasefire deals with Israel to regroup, rearm and plan for the next round of fighting. In the weeks before the October 7 attack, Hamas leaders went to great lengths to create the false impression that they were not interested in engaging in another war with Israel. A source close to Hamas told Reuters:
"Hamas used an unprecedented intelligence tactic to mislead Israel over the last months by giving a public impression that it was not willing to go into a fight or confrontation with Israel while preparing for this massive operation."
Hamas leaders seem to believe that they can deceive Israel and the rest of the world again by pretending that they want an end to the war with Israel. They might accept a ceasefire, but it would be only on a temporary basis until they were ready for the next attack on Israel.
Hamas has not – and will never – give up its goal of eliminating Israel and replacing it with an Islamist state.
As Atef Seif, a Palestinian writer and spokesman for the ruling Fatah faction, wrote:
"Hamas only wants what is best for Hamas and its survival. Is there anyone who doubts that? Hamas seeks to secure itself after the war ends. Hamas knows that after the war ends, the people will question it about the adventures (wars with Israel) it has been undertaking for two decades, which have only brought people more suffering. We, the Fatah members who were thrown into Hamas prisons, saw the tortured people with our own eyes and heard their screams. The goal of the negotiations is to serve Hamas's agenda, not to stop the people's suffering. Hamas has committed a historical precedent that no other organization, political or military entity has ever committed before it anywhere else in the world. History will record that Hamas is the first organization to sacrifice its people for its own survival. Hamas is more important than everyone else; it is more important than Palestine, more important than Gaza, and its leadership is more important than more than two million Palestinians facing death and awaiting exile. Nothing is greater than Hamas except Hamas. This is the inner voice of the Hamas negotiator as he moves between hotels in various capitals. Note that the Hamas leadership will be the Palestinian group in history that has lived in the hotels of the world's capitals the most. It practically lives in hotels and moves between them, all in the name of Palestine and in the name of Gaza, which is being slaughtered; because Hamas has decided to build glory at the expense of the oppressed people."
Even if a ceasefire deal is reached, the US and the rest of the international community must insist that Hamas be totally disarmed and removed from power. Hamas, unfortunately, really needs to be obliterated, and its leaders put on trial for committing war crimes against Israel and their own people.
Khaled Abu Toameh is an award-winning journalist based in Jerusalem.
