US & 'Israel' might be out of touch with the reality of Hamas: report

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Foreign Affairs
12 Dec 2023 05:15
1 Shares

Hamas has succeeded in bringing the Palestinian struggle for liberation to the forefront of global concerns by engaging the Israeli and US narratives and countering them while imposing a new reality in the Gaza Strip.

Israeli occupation tanks as seen near the Gaza Strip border, in occupied Palestine, Monday, Dec. 11, 2023. (AP)

"The total eradication of Hamas" is the goal of the ongoing genocide being perpetrated by "Israel" and funded by the US in the Gaza Strip, however, this goal "may be based on an understanding of the organization that does not take account of its current reality" explained a newly published report by Foreign Affairs.

The report underscored that "despite a five-week onslaught" carried out by allegedly "one of the most powerful armies in the world", and despite the forced displacement of hundreds of thousands and the martyrdom of over 17,000 Palestinians, Hamas, and its military wing, al-Qassam Brigades, showed "few signs" they have been "eradicated" as hoped by Washington and "Tel Aviv".

According to Foreign Affairs, "Not only has it [Hamas] managed to maintain itself; it has also asserted its autonomy from the organization’s outside leadership as well as its Arab allies and Iran, which was not warned of the attack."

Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, which was conducted on October 7 has repositioned the Gaza Strip as a "key piece of the Palestinian liberation struggle and of bringing that struggle to the center of international attention," noted the report.

Furthermore, the Foreign Affairs statement emphasized that, by reasserting its role in the struggle for Palestinian liberation, Hamas challenged the previous understanding held by the United States and "Israel". This understanding considered Gaza as an isolated enclave with a sustainable status quo, not only indefinitely but also as separate from the rest of Palestine.

The report also highlighted the importance of Hamas' media strategy since the launch of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood and how it impacted the war and the foreign perception of the world toward Palestine and its liberation struggle.

Foreign Affairs noted that "Hamas has also deployed a concerted media strategy to emphasize the centrality of Gaza in the Palestinian struggle."

The report explained that "Foremost has been the group’s ability to communicate with the outside world during the fighting," despite internet blackouts, intense bombing, and the destruction of telecommunications infrastructure across the Strip.

"Hamas has continued to broadcast information from the battlefield, providing a continual counternarrative to official Israeli accounts of the war," wrote Foreign Affairs before adding that al-Qassam Brigades' continuous publishing of videos, daily, showing "the destruction of Israeli tanks and challenging claims about hospitals used as human shields," they successfully contradicted Israeli claims and allegations. Furthermore, Hamas in the Strip was able to maintain "some influence over the coverage of the war by the international media."

The report further discussed the coming to power of Yahya Sanwar in Gaza and how that impacted Hamas as he once again strengthened the connection between Gaza, the West Bank, and all occupied Palestinian territories.

Khan Younis battle requires 3 to 4 more weeks: Israeli official

Earlier today, Axios cited a senior Israeli defense official who noted that in Khan Younis, the high-intensity warfare is expected to last another three or four weeks.

Despite the pressure, the Biden administration is not "pulling the brakes" on the Israeli occupation's operation across the Gaza Strip with the alleged goal of eliminating Hamas.

The Israeli official told Axios that the Israeli Occupation Forces "have made significant progress" in northern Gaza, but that the operation in the southern city of Khan Younis "has just started."

Significantly, the US has also allegedly not given "Israel" a firm deadline to stop the operation, said the Israeli official, while White House Deputy National Security Adviser Jon Finer corroborated that information when he told the Aspen Security Forum in Washington, earlier last week, that "This is their conflict. That said, we do have influence, even if we don't have ultimate control over what happens on the ground in Gaza."

According to the Israeli official, "Israel" is aiming to end the operation by the end of January, however, the US would be satisfied if said operation could be concluded by the end of December.

In other words, said the Israeli official, "The US message is that they would want us to finish faster, with less civilian casualties and more humanitarian aid to Gaza," adding "We want the same thing, but there is another player here and this is the enemy that doesn't agree."

"The US understands this. We are working together. We need them and they need us," said the Israeli official.