Hamas has never before faced such a chaotic situation. Israel has thrown the terrorist organization into a severe tailspin. Hamas is facing protests and heavy military blows following the resumption of combat in the Gaza Strip. The terror regime has lost numerous high-ranking members, is struggling with dysfunction, and is losing control. The Palestinians are angry about the ongoing fighting and are demanding a ceasefire. But in recent days, Hamas has been brutally cracking down – though not in front of the cameras. About three days ago, Hamas tortured and murdered six Palestinians. One of the victims was 22-year-old Oday Nasser Al Rabay from Gaza City. According to reports from social media channels, Oday was brutally tortured and executed in front of passersby. This was intended to serve as a deterrent. Terrorists tied a rope around his neck, dragged him through the streets of Gaza, and then beat him with clubs and iron bars. His father vows revenge in a video message, but whether this revenge is realistic is highly doubtful. With cruelty, Hamas paralyzes its own people. “Hamas is our plague, a plague that is dragging us all into hell,” a Palestinian from the Gaza Strip texted his Israeli employer in the south.
Another victim was Hussam al-Majdalawi, whom Hamas terrorists shot in the legs in the central square of the Nuseirat refugee camp – also in public. According to other sources, several more Palestinians were abducted by Hamas terrorists after participating in protests. Their fate is currently unknown. Nevertheless, anger towards Hamas is evident on social networks. Yesterday evening, a Palestinian family in the Gaza Strip was lightly injured in an Israeli attack. As they got out of the ambulance, one of the children screamed in front of the cameras at the hospital entrance that Hamas “fighters” had hidden among them, and that they had been targeted because the Hamas terrorists using them as human shields were attacked by Israeli forces. The father repeatedly says that Allah has protected his family. (Or Israel was cautious.) This is authentic proof that Hamas terrorists are using the Palestinian civilian population as human shields.
Notice the anger in the child’s eyes. The boy is completely right.
Of course, Hamas blames Israel and the Palestinian Authority for the protests – both, in their view, want to overthrow the Hamas regime. While the organization initially tolerated the demonstrations for a few days, it is now using brutal methods against the participants. This quickly intimidates the Palestinians. In recent days, Hamas has faced growing anger from the population, especially due to Israeli airstrikes in the Strip. These attacks led to new evacuations from residential areas from which Hamas had fired rockets at Israel.
At the same time, Hamas is being sharply criticized by the population for refusing to relinquish power, even though the people are demanding it – in the hope that a ceasefire would end their suffering. The relentless Israeli airstrikes are exacerbating the crisis. Unlike in the past, the recent protests in the Strip were not immediately suppressed. Some interpreted this as a sign of Hamas’s weakening after the heavy blows from Israel. However, Hamas quickly made it clear that it is not relinquishing control – by specifically killing demonstrators who participated in the protests.
The people in Gaza fear further acts of revenge by Hamas against demonstrators. A young Palestinian, who wished to remain anonymous, told the newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat that if Hamas recovers as it did after the previous ceasefire, it will hunt down the demonstrators. According to Asharq Al-Awsat, Hamas has suffered heavy losses since the resumption of fighting on March 18, including the targeted killing of political and military leaders as well as high-ranking government officials. This makes it difficult for Hamas to govern as usual in the short term.
Additionally, the newspaper reports chaos in the government apparatus of the terrorist regime. Many senior Hamas officials have turned off their mobile phones and gone into hiding. This alone hinders the work of the government, police, and Hamas security forces in the Gaza Strip. Moreover, for the first time since the war began, salaries have not been paid to government employees or political and military members of Hamas.
While some observers see this as a comprehensive weakening of Hamas, representatives of the organization reject this assessment. Sources within Hamas confirmed to Asharq Al-Awsat that there are significant challenges – especially since key figures of Hamas in the Gaza Strip are being eliminated one after another by Israel. This forces them to hide and restrict their activities until a ceasefire is reached. In this way, one cannot govern or assist a population in need.
During the last ceasefire, which lasted 58 days, Israel used many collaborators in the Gaza Strip to update its target bank – particularly regarding senior Hamas members who had survived multiple assassination attempts during the war. Sources claimed that Israel used the ceremonies that Hamas held during the release of hostages to monitor senior members and vehicles of the terrorist organization from the Gaza Strip. For example, in the killing of Jamil al-Wadiah, a commander, several other senior Hamas members were killed who had participated in the hostage release ceremonies.
First, the leading Hamas spokesman Abd al-Latif al-Qanoua was killed in an attack on a hideout in the northern Gaza Strip. Then Ashraf al-Gharbawi, a senior chief in Hamas’s intelligence service, was killed in an attack on a building in the north of Gaza City. Osama Tabash, another senior member of Hamas’s intelligence service, was also eliminated. Ahmad al-Khyali, coordinator between Hamas’s intelligence service and the Ministry of Interior, was fatally hit. Also, Ahmad Shamali, deputy commander of the Gaza Brigade. Five members of Hamas’s Politburo: Muhammad al-Juma’isi, Yasser Harb, Issam al-Dalis, Salah al-Bardawil, and Ismail Barhoum. Also, Jamil al-Wadiah, commander of the al-Shujaiya battalion of Hamas.
And yet – Hamas continues to appear strong and is also convinced that a ceasefire would help it out of its predicament to consolidate its control over the Gaza Strip. In this context, Hamas has agreed to the establishment of a civilian aid committee to take over administrative matters. Israeli security sources confirm that despite recent developments, Hamas still possesses military and civilian power in Gaza. For this very reason, Israel must continue to exert massive pressure on Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Of course, this primarily affects the Palestinian civilian population, who must therefore move from one place to the next security zone.
The Israeli government makes it clear that it will not grant Hamas a governing role in the Gaza Strip. A permanent ceasefire is conditional on Hamas disarming and its leadership being expelled from the Gaza Strip. Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated at the beginning of the cabinet meeting last Sunday that military pressure on Hamas has proven effective. “It works because it operates on two levels simultaneously: On one hand, it destroys Hamas’s military and administrative capabilities, and on the other hand, it creates the conditions for the release of our hostages. That’s exactly what we’re doing,” Netanyahu explained. “Hamas will lay down its weapons. Its leaders will be allowed to leave the area. We will ensure general security in the Gaza Strip and enable the implementation of the Trump plan – the program for voluntary emigration. That is the plan.”
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