By Taghreed Saadeh
The massacres carried out by the Israeli occupation against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip continue under near total control on the ground, while negotiations between Israel and Hamas spin in a futile cycle that offers no horizon for salvation.
What is unfolding can be described as the culmination of decades of systematic planning to weaken the Palestinian people and turn the Strip into a daily inferno, preparing the ground for a new reality that ultimately leads to either “voluntary” displacement or the depopulation of Gaza.
Hamas has handed the occupation the golden ticket Netanyahu long awaited to implement the displacement plan after starving and killing thousands and destroying Gaza’s social, economic, and political fabric all under the pretext of hostages and Israeli prisoners.
Statements today by senior Hamas figure Mahmoud Mardawi, declaring that negotiations have been stalled since last month due to Israel’s refusal of terms, suggest that the situation is dire and no breakthrough is on the horizon. Meanwhile, the reality on the ground shows that Israel controls more than 90% of Gaza’s territory and maintains a tight military and security grip on every aspect of life in the Strip.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has stated that Israel will resume negotiations to end the war and free the hostages, but only within terms acceptable to Israel. He has insisted on continuing military operations, particularly in Gaza City, and laid out strict conditions that include the disarmament of Hamas and the dismantling of its administrative and military structures.
In contrast, Hamas demands a permanent ceasefire and the withdrawal of Israeli forces in exchange for the release of all prisoners, while rejecting disarmament or any conditions that threaten its political existence.
As a result, current negotiations have reached an impasse amid ongoing war and a deepening humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Israeli forces continue their operations in Gaza City, while mediators struggle to push forward a negotiation track that so far lacks any substantive agreement.
Talk of the “steadfastness of the resistance” is little more than dust in the eyes. The resistance Hamas claims has become no more than a media façade serving the occupation more than it confronts it. The negotiations Hamas leads on behalf of the Palestinian people through the hostage file are nothing but a last lifeline to escape extinction. Hamas knows that any prisoner swap would mean its effective end, which is why it maneuvers around issues of disarmament and guarantees for a ceasefire, even though its military strength has nearly evaporated and Israel dictates terms as the dominant force.
The shocking message to the Palestinian people is that Hamas whose presence was once bolstered by the occupation itself now possesses nothing but media tools to justify its survival, while Netanyahu exploits the situation to secure maximum political and military gains at the expense of Palestinian blood.
Although this reality was apparent since the early stages of the war on Gaza, Hamas continues to maneuver in search of a political escape route to preserve its place in the scene, while the Palestinian people pay the price in blood, destruction, and endless suffering. Had Hamas turned to the Palestine Liberation Organization from the beginning, and dealt sincerely with the Palestinian cause outside of narrow factional calculations, Gaza would not have reached this catastrophic fate.
The result today is clear; thousands of Palestinian lives lost, Gaza utterly devastated, and a future that inevitably points to the end of Hamas as a force on the ground and as part of the Palestinian political project.
What is required of Hamas is must place the suffering of its people at the center, never allowing it to become a tool for negotiations. Even if it is too late, at the very least there remains a chance to save what is left.
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