For the past year or so, the eyes of the world have been staring at Israel and Palestine. Israel launched a war in Gaza in response to an October 7 incursion into the country. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that the war will continue until Hamas is completely defeated. This is the question that arises almost a year after the start of the war. Will this war ever end?
But there is the question of why a country like Israel could not end Hamas in Gaza so quickly.
Israel started the military operation in Gaza with the preface that it will not end soon. The misery of war every day. Schools, hospitals, refugee camps and so on everywhere, the silence of war and death. Sights of children falling dead. On the one hand, there is the allegation of forgetting war justice and even laws. But one wonders why a country like Israel could not end Hamas in Gaza so quickly.
It is true that Israel first realized that the system of tunnels and alleyways built by Hamas in Gaza cannot be destroyed so quickly. Israel has repeatedly released footage of Hamas building tunnels under schools and hospitals and storing weapons there. These views are Israel’s response to accusations of attacks on hospitals and schools.
It is a fact that Hamas does not have full support in the Gulf region even as large protests continue in various places including Europe.
If initially it was an Israel-Hamas war, today it has become a little more widespread. Iran, Yemen’s Houthis and Lebanon’s Hezbollah are aligned with Hamas. It is a fact that Hamas does not have full support in the Gulf region, even when there are accusations that Israel is committing serious war crimes and large protests continue in various places, including Europe. There is a reason for that.
These are all the reasons why the Middle East powers Saudi and UAE keep Hamas away.
The country that provides the most support and aid to Hamas is Iran. Although there is no direct confrontation, Saudi Arabia and the UAE have kept Iran at arm’s length. They accuse Iran of supporting terrorists. The Houthis, who directly support Hamas, are at war with Saudi Arabia directly and indirectly. The Houthis have attacked even Abu Dhabi, the capital of the UAE, which was considered the safest. Therefore, the UAE and Saudi believe that the aid given to Hamas will also be given to the Houthis. This is the approach towards Hezbollah. These are all reasons why Middle Eastern powers Saudi Arabia and the UAE have alienated Hamas from fighting alongside such alliances.
Peace talks were held at various levels first in Qatar and then in Egypt. But none of that could bring about a temporary, if not permanent, ceasefire. Israel wants to avoid the dominance of the Hamas regime in Gaza. Israel considers it essential for peace in the region. Netanyahu has declared that this war will not end until that goal is reached. Meanwhile, protests continue in Tel Aviv against the Prime Minister of Israel over the killing of hostages held by Hamas. And, there are voices of rebellion against Hamas from Palestine itself. The fact that the October 7 attack led to the cessation of aid that had reached Palestine is also leading to criticism.
Killing all the leaders will stop the war? That question is relevant.
Meanwhile, Ismail Haniyeh, the head of Hamas’s political affairs, was killed by Israel in Iran, and another powerful leader, Mohammad Deif, was killed in Gaza. Israel also killed Hezbollah leaders in Lebanon. And so Israel comes to its stated goal of killing the plotters of October 7 one by one. Will the war stop if we kill all the leaders? That question is relevant.
Israel’s position is that the war cannot end without the complete release of the hostages taken from Israel on October 7. Israel’s goal is not only to end the attacks of Hamas but also to end political interference. Israel wants a Gaza free from the involvement of the Houthis and Hezbollah, who are allied with Hamas.
But Israel knows that more blood will be shed to achieve that goal. What the world…needs is a solution through political intervention. Even if the ceasefire ends, the spark will be there. The reality is that if we want to eradicate it, we will have to wait longer to reach a permanent solution.