Berl Falbaum
Who said the following: The deaths of civilians serve the strategic interests of Hamas in the Gaza-Israeli war because it puts Israel on the defensive. That strategy should be embraced.
That’s easy. Israel and critics of Hamas have said this many times to discredit the terrorist organization. Israel continually cites the fact that Hamas uses civilians as shields because it does not want to be blamed for the civilian death toll.
Well, it turns out that Israel and Hamas’s critics were correct: Hamas endorses the tragic collateral civilian damage because it demonizes Israel.
How do we know that? The proof comes from none other than Yahya Sinmar, the Hamas leader and architect of the October 7 attack on Israel.
One report stated that emails distributed by Sinwar and published by The Wall Street Journal, “display a calculated disregard for human life and a belief on the part of Mr. Sinwar that Israel has more to lose from the eight-month war than Hamas.”
“We have the Israelis right where we want them,” Sinwar says in one of the emails, which, the WSJ said, was sent to Hamas compatriots as well as mediators.
In another message to Hamas leaders in Doha, Sinwar says that mass civilian losses, similar to those seen in the Algerian War of Independence, “are necessary sacrifices.”
Sinwar was referring to Algeria’s fight for independence from France (1954-62), a war in which hundreds of thousands of civilians were killed.
Writing to a Hamas leader who lost three sons in an airstrike, Sinwar advised, the deaths would “infuse life into the veins of this nation, prompting it to rise to its glory and honor.”
He also opposed negotiations on plans for the governance of Gaza after the war, stating: “As long as fighters are still standing and we have not lost the war, such contacts should be immediately terminated. We have the capabilities to continue fighting for months.”
He argues, in the emails, against making any concessions, because civilian casualties would ramp up global pressure on Israel to halt the conflict.
Let’s follow up with another aspect of the war that has escaped the formulaic condemnation of Israel: Gazans are increasingly critical of Hamas for not just launching the war, but for prolonging it and making their lives hell on Earth.
Even at the risk of being tortured and assassinated, they are courageously voicing their opinions, laying the blame for the war directly at Hamas’s feet.
Here are just a few quotes from Gazans as reported in The New York Times:
Raed al-Keland, 47: “It started October 7 and it wants to end it on its own terms. But time is ticking with no potential hope of ending this. Hamas is still seeking its slice of power. Hamas does not know how to get down from the tree it climbed.”
Photojournalist Motaz Azaiza: “If the death and hunger of their people do not make any difference to them [Hamas], they do not need to make any difference to us. Cursed be everyone who trafficked in our blood, burned our hearts and homes and ruined our lives.”
Obada Shtaya, a Palestinian and founder of the Institute for Social and Economic Progress: “When you realize six months in or seven months in that Gaza is completely destroyed, your life as a Gazan is completely destroyed, that’s where people are coming from when they are not supportive of Sinwar or Haniyeh (Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas’s political leader in exile).”
An anonymous Gazan living in Egypt who asked for anonymity fearing retribution, added: “They (Hamas) could have surrendered a long time ago and saved us from all this suffering.” She said Hamas had prioritized its own aims over the well-being of Palestinians they purport to defend and represent.
Here are more quotes as reported in the Times of Israel:
Umm Ala, 67, who has been displaced twice in the war: Hamas has “led the Palestinian people into a war of annihilation.
“If the Hamas leaders were interested in ending this war and ending the suffering of the Palestinian people, they would have agreed to a deal.”
Abu Eyad, 55, who lives in north Gaza: Hamas has made “a mockery of us, our pain and destruction of our lives.”
Abu Shaker, 34: “We are tired, we are dead, we are destroyed and our tragedies are countless.”
Addressing Hamas, Shaker asked: “What are you waiting for. What do you want? The war must end at any cost. We cannot bear this any longer.”
Finally, for this column, Umm Shadi, 50, pleaded for Hamas to “end the war immediately without seeking control and rule of Gaza.”
She asked: “What have we gained from this war except killing, destruction, extermination and starvation? Every day the war on Gaza increases, our pain and the pain of the people increases.”
Then, almost posing the same question that Shaker did, she asked: “What is Hamas waiting for?”
Let us hope powerful critics of Israel such as the United Nations, the International Court of Justice and their political allies as well as the protesters on campuses and elsewhere read Sinwar’s emails.
But even more important: They read the heart-rendering, painful, tearful pleas from Gazans.
That’s easy. Israel and critics of Hamas have said this many times to discredit the terrorist organization. Israel continually cites the fact that Hamas uses civilians as shields because it does not want to be blamed for the civilian death toll.
Well, it turns out that Israel and Hamas’s critics were correct: Hamas endorses the tragic collateral civilian damage because it demonizes Israel.
How do we know that? The proof comes from none other than Yahya Sinmar, the Hamas leader and architect of the October 7 attack on Israel.
One report stated that emails distributed by Sinwar and published by The Wall Street Journal, “display a calculated disregard for human life and a belief on the part of Mr. Sinwar that Israel has more to lose from the eight-month war than Hamas.”
“We have the Israelis right where we want them,” Sinwar says in one of the emails, which, the WSJ said, was sent to Hamas compatriots as well as mediators.
In another message to Hamas leaders in Doha, Sinwar says that mass civilian losses, similar to those seen in the Algerian War of Independence, “are necessary sacrifices.”
Sinwar was referring to Algeria’s fight for independence from France (1954-62), a war in which hundreds of thousands of civilians were killed.
Writing to a Hamas leader who lost three sons in an airstrike, Sinwar advised, the deaths would “infuse life into the veins of this nation, prompting it to rise to its glory and honor.”
He also opposed negotiations on plans for the governance of Gaza after the war, stating: “As long as fighters are still standing and we have not lost the war, such contacts should be immediately terminated. We have the capabilities to continue fighting for months.”
He argues, in the emails, against making any concessions, because civilian casualties would ramp up global pressure on Israel to halt the conflict.
Let’s follow up with another aspect of the war that has escaped the formulaic condemnation of Israel: Gazans are increasingly critical of Hamas for not just launching the war, but for prolonging it and making their lives hell on Earth.
Even at the risk of being tortured and assassinated, they are courageously voicing their opinions, laying the blame for the war directly at Hamas’s feet.
Here are just a few quotes from Gazans as reported in The New York Times:
Raed al-Keland, 47: “It started October 7 and it wants to end it on its own terms. But time is ticking with no potential hope of ending this. Hamas is still seeking its slice of power. Hamas does not know how to get down from the tree it climbed.”
Photojournalist Motaz Azaiza: “If the death and hunger of their people do not make any difference to them [Hamas], they do not need to make any difference to us. Cursed be everyone who trafficked in our blood, burned our hearts and homes and ruined our lives.”
Obada Shtaya, a Palestinian and founder of the Institute for Social and Economic Progress: “When you realize six months in or seven months in that Gaza is completely destroyed, your life as a Gazan is completely destroyed, that’s where people are coming from when they are not supportive of Sinwar or Haniyeh (Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas’s political leader in exile).”
An anonymous Gazan living in Egypt who asked for anonymity fearing retribution, added: “They (Hamas) could have surrendered a long time ago and saved us from all this suffering.” She said Hamas had prioritized its own aims over the well-being of Palestinians they purport to defend and represent.
Here are more quotes as reported in the Times of Israel:
Umm Ala, 67, who has been displaced twice in the war: Hamas has “led the Palestinian people into a war of annihilation.
“If the Hamas leaders were interested in ending this war and ending the suffering of the Palestinian people, they would have agreed to a deal.”
Abu Eyad, 55, who lives in north Gaza: Hamas has made “a mockery of us, our pain and destruction of our lives.”
Abu Shaker, 34: “We are tired, we are dead, we are destroyed and our tragedies are countless.”
Addressing Hamas, Shaker asked: “What are you waiting for. What do you want? The war must end at any cost. We cannot bear this any longer.”
Finally, for this column, Umm Shadi, 50, pleaded for Hamas to “end the war immediately without seeking control and rule of Gaza.”
She asked: “What have we gained from this war except killing, destruction, extermination and starvation? Every day the war on Gaza increases, our pain and the pain of the people increases.”
Then, almost posing the same question that Shaker did, she asked: “What is Hamas waiting for?”
Let us hope powerful critics of Israel such as the United Nations, the International Court of Justice and their political allies as well as the protesters on campuses and elsewhere read Sinwar’s emails.
But even more important: They read the heart-rendering, painful, tearful pleas from Gazans.
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