Eliminating Hamas...

Confessions and statements acknowledging the impossibility of eliminating Hamas' goal continue to come from the Israeli side. Most recently, Gideon Saar, former justice minister and current member of the "war cabinet," stated that Hamas is "far from being defeated." Speaking to the Israeli Army Radio, Saar mentioned, "Nevertheless, we have no choice but to focus on our objectives." These words were a confirmation of the sentiments expressed by former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak at the beginning of the genocide in Gaza: "We cannot finish off Hamas because Hamas is an ideal that continues to live in the minds and thoughts of people." Perhaps Barak's definition remains the most realistic one regarding what Hamas represents.

The resistance process against Zionist occupation in Palestinian territories, with a historical journey of almost a century, has constantly been subject to external interventions. While each Muslim country tried to project its own vision for Palestine, Israel and Western countries attempted various methods to manipulate the Palestinian political scene.

In the early stages of resistance, Izzeddin al-Qassam initiated a resistance against both British mandate rule and Zionist occupation through an independently organized jihad effort. In the same period, Haji Amin al-Husseini was the shining star in the political and diplomatic arena in Palestine. Although a serious decline in armed resistance was observed after al-Qassam's martyrdom in 1935, Haji Amin continued to use the weapon of diplomacy until his death in 1974. However, he found Arab interests constantly conflicting against him and frequently got caught in the crossfire of Muslim capitals.

In 1959, when Yasser Arafat and his colleagues founded Fatah in Kuwait, which was then under British control, Cairo responded to this move. Jamal Abdul Nasser, the President of Egypt who claimed guardianship of the Palestinian cause in the context of Arab nationalism, established the Palestine Liberation Organization in 1964 and appointed a close associate, Ahmed Shukeiri, as its head. When Egypt suffered defeat in the Six-Day War in 1967, Arafat and his associates took control of the Palestine Liberation Organization, and Arafat was recognized as the "legitimate" representative of the Palestinian cause worldwide.

Until the First Intifada in 1987, different countries were involved in the Palestinian cause. While Arafat and his colleagues moved from Jordan to Lebanon, then to Tunisia and Algeria, different actors in the Arab world were in a race for control and dominance over the Palestine Liberation Organization. Over time, Arafat turned into a tightrope walker to manage all these competitions and prevent the loss of leadership in the Palestinian issue. As a result, the priority of resisting the Israeli occupation was lost, and the cause turned into a struggle not to lose control over the design of the Palestinian political stage. Internal struggles within the organization, tensions arising from the distribution of benefits generated by aid from all over the world, and conflicts over the distribution of this income eventually resulted in clashes between different interest groups. When Arafat died in 2004, he left behind a deepened status quo, cadres focused on preserving their gains rather than fighting the occupation, and a withered administration.

The atmosphere that gave birth to Hamas, the dominant influence of the organization in the Palestinian political scene, which still continues, and the failure of Israel to destroy Hamas despite numerous attacks must be sought in this context. Hamas is a completely "organic" structure, born from within the Palestinian people and their needs, and it has gained the sympathy of the Palestinian public by clearly seeing what has gone wrong. For decades, the Israeli occupation administration, which chose to consider only the Palestine Liberation Organization as a counterpart, failed to see and did not want to see this point.

If Hamas has been able to maintain its line so far, it is largely due to leaning on the people it emerged from and their needs. Hamas's biggest test from now on will be trying to maintain its independence against Iran, its biggest sponsor at present due to various obligations. Iran will undoubtedly demand a price and reciprocation from Hamas for all this support. It is evident that this situation will put Hamas in a face-off with its own base. We will see together how the Hamas leadership will handle this situation.