Hamas Thinks Israel Lost to Hezbollah; Now It Wants Similar Terms for Its Own Ceasefire

Hamas believes that the ceasefire in Lebanon is a major step on the path towards what Palestinians consider to be total victory over Israel.

When the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research conducted a poll earlier this year, it showed that the belief among “West Bank Palestinians” that Hamas would win the war increased from 69% to 79% during the period between March and June 2024, when particularly intense international pressure was being applied to Israel to agree to an immediate ceasefire.

At the moment, Hamas is very pleased that a ceasefire has been declared on Israel’s northern front with Hezbollah, as it includes many components that Hamas would like to see in a Gaza ceasefire agreement.

For example, the Hezbollah deal ensures that Israel will make a full withdrawal, followed by permission being granted to Lebanese people to return to their homes close to the border, even homes that concealed terror tunnels and stockpiles of weapons.

Hamas sees this as a precedent, and put out a press release last week stating that the Hezbollah agreement was a “milestone” on Hamas’ path towards achieving its objectives as well:

The fact that the enemy [Israel] accepted the agreement with Lebanon without fulfilling the conditions it had set is an important milestone in shattering Netanyahu’s illusions about redrawing the Middle East map by force and his fantasies of defeating or disarming the resistance forces.

We emphasize that this agreement would not have been achieved without the steadfastness of the resistance and the popular cohesion around it …

While we in the Hamas movement monitor the developments surrounding this agreement in Lebanon, we affirm our commitment to cooperating with all efforts to establish a ceasefire in Gaza.

We aim to end the aggression against our people as part of a framework for ceasing hostilities in Gaza, under terms agreed upon nationally: a ceasefire, the withdrawal of the occupation’s forces, the return of displaced persons, and the completion of a genuine and full prisoner exchange deal.” [emphasis added]

[Shehab news agency (Hamas), Twitter account, November 27, 2024]

In Palestinian eyes, all Hamas must do to achieve victory is to survive. The ceasefire agreement in Lebanon has encouraged Hamas to believe that it can hold out for similar terms — terms that Israel has repeatedly said do not apply to the Gaza war.

Itamar Marcus is Palestinian Media Watch (PMW)’s Founder and Director. Ephraim D. Tepler is a contributor to Palestinian Media Watch. A version of this article originally appeared at PMW.

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