Analysis: Instigators of Gaza Crisis Cannot Heal Their Victims
A mirror image of sentiments prevails in Gaza and Israel, where both Hamas and the Israeli government are blamed for what happened to their respective sides, making them unfit for the post-Gaza-war scenario
It all began like the opening scene of a thriller about a hunter pursuing a fox. Though the hunter was considered as sneaky as some of today’s politicians, the fox was faster. Within seconds, the hunter became the hunted.
On the eve of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack, 6,000 Palestinian prisoners were behind Israeli bars. Launching the Saturday attack on Israel’s southern towns, Hamas, the hunter in our movie, said one of its goals was to secure the release of hardcore Palestinian security prisoners held in Israel, serving life or long-term sentences.
Well done, Hamas. In the 15 months since the attack, the 6,000 prisoners held in Israel jumped in number to 17,000. The Islamist movement’s military adventure also brought disaster, death, blood, tears, pain, and banishment to no less than 1.8 million Palestinian civilians who were forced to leave their homes in the northern Gaza Strip. They headed south, hoping they would return a few days later.
They didn’t return—not only because the Israeli army blocked their way home but also because its airstrikes destroyed approximately 80% of the built areas in the Strip.
Those displaced Palestinians were forced to live in tents, only for winter storms to blow them away. Heavy rain flooded what remained. Every kind of human-made disaster surrounded them. Most were relatives or friends of those displaced. Estimates in Gaza indicated that Israel’s war affected every family—none were spared from loss.
All 2.2 million Palestinians shared a grief they will never forget. No wonder many call it the second Palestinian Nakba. The first occurred in 1948, the year Israel was proclaimed when 700,000 were forced to leave their homeland, though some left voluntarily due to personal worries and fears.
With this kind of victory, one more and we will lose everything
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With the ceasefire agreement going into effect within hours before Donald Trump returned to the White House as US president, the Palestinians hope the immediate disaster of living in the worst conditions will end soon. However, its impact on their future won’t disappear. Palestinians worldwide, much of the Arab world, and global public opinion recognize the brutality of the war in Gaza. Only Hamas, the hunted hunter, saw things differently. Its spokespeople in Gaza and exile dominated the satellite media, bragging about their great victory and Israel’s defeat. In Hamas’ lexicon, victory seems to have a different and strange interpretation.
After Israel’s 2014 war on Gaza ended, Hamas officials, some standing on the rubble of destroyed buildings in Gaza City, bragged about their victory and how Israel, which they call the “Zionist enemy,” failed to achieve any of its goals. A reporter for Hamas’ TV satellite channel, Al Aqsa, set out to gather opinions from average Palestinians about the war’s end and the ceasefire. Approaching a Palestinian woman in her late 40s, he asked, “How do you feel about the victory the resistance movement scored against Israel?” Without hesitating, the woman replied: “With this kind of victory, one more and we will lose everything.”
I have always believed that in wars, all parties lose, and no one wins. The price of war makes any victory bitter, with its sweetness hardly ever felt. However, with a death toll of 47,000 Palestinians killed and likely several thousand more still unaccounted for and buried under the debris, Hamas’ victory is nothing more than a stupid and irresponsible hallucination.
Despite everything, people in Gaza celebrated the ceasefire by firing bullets in the air. Their joy wasn’t from a sense of victory but relief that the long-awaited end to the ugly war seemed near.
This wave of joy will likely disappear within a week or less, or perhaps a bit longer. As the first phase of the ceasefire begins, many obstacles lie ahead. True, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu no longer has the (Itamar) Ben-Gvir/(Bezalel) Smotrich card to hide behind and use to reject the ceasefire deal, as he did in the past.
In fact, accepting this ceasefire agreement no longer poses any threat to Netanyahu’s coalition. On the contrary, it provides him with more support from opposition leader Yair Lapid, who offered a safety net to help secure the release of the remaining living Israeli hostages held in Gaza and to recover the bodies of those who have died—whether killed by Hamas combatants or by friendly fire during botched Israeli rescue attempts.
There is also a sense of joy in Israel—not because of Hamas’ defeat but because the public finally feels that the captivity of their beloved in Gaza is coming to an end, and they are returning home, along with the bodies of the deceased hostages. However, this joy is shaky. Anything might happen before the hostages cross the border back into Israel, turning their hope into yet another chapter of an ongoing nightmare.
Why? Because Israel could change course at any moment, especially with leaks coming from all corners of Israel’s political domain. A resumption of war is almost certain once all the hostages and bodies are back, as Netanyahu can no longer avoid the need to form a state commission of inquiry to examine what went wrong before, during, and after Oct. 7. A Pandora’s box awaits every political, military and security officer involved in this ugly war. Only such a commission can clear those who deserve exoneration and incriminate those found guilty or negligent enough to be ousted.
While Hamas focuses on marketing its alleged victory and Israel awaits the hostages’ return, Palestinians in the West Bank are crossing their fingers, hoping that what happened in Gaza won’t spill over to the West Bank. They also hope that the tragic Gaza war could pave the way for a political settlement to the conflict.
Officials in the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Authority (PA) have repeatedly said the PA is fully prepared to shoulder its responsibilities for Gaza and oversee its rehabilitation and reconstruction—without allowing Hamas to play a governance role in postwar Gaza. Despite reports that Israel is unwilling to let the PA assume control of the Gaza Strip after the war, a senior Palestinian delegation has traveled to Cairo to coordinate with Egyptian authorities on reopening the Rafah Crossing. Additionally, an EU delegation is expected in Cairo for the same purpose since the PA, Egypt, and the EU were the sole signatories of the 2005 Rafah Crossing Protocol.
Reports also indicate that Trump urged the PA to send representatives to Egypt and prepare its staff for deployment to the Rafah Crossing. Although little has been said publicly, the PA seems to have worked successfully behind the scenes, laying the groundwork for the ceasefire.
The reported clash between Netanyahu and Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, and the heavy pressure that Witkoff applied to Netanyahu during their meeting last Saturday morning indicated that Netanyahu’s days as Israel’s undisputed emperor are drawing to a close. It’s no wonder that public sentiment on both sides is mirroring each other. Palestinians believe that whoever triggered, knowingly or unknowingly, the Gaza destruction and who later bragged about victory should not have any role in Gaza’s rehabilitation or reconstruction process. Similarly, Israelis feel that those who failed to end the war when they had the chance, before Israel’s losses mounted day after day, should not continue leading Israel in the post-Gaza-war scenario.
The latest ceasefire agreement is identical to the one Netanyahu was ready to sign on May 26 but abandoned because Ben-Gvir threatened to bring down his government. Witkoff’s intervention proved that Netanyahu was no longer in full control of Israel. Caving into US pressure, which was applied in the right direction this time, he has allowed the deal to advance, marking the beginning of Netanyahu’s end.
