When Hamas launched its war on Israel in October, 2023, it did so on the basis of a clear analysis of Israeli society, according to which it hoped to achieve its objectives.
Given the nature and extent of the massacre of 7 October 2023, it was surely clear to the Palestinian Islamist movement that Israel’s response would be to seek to destroy the ruling regime that Hamas had established in Gaza since 2007. Hamas’s leaders hoped to avoid this outcome, however, by the taking of Israeli hostages. This would be followed by a bargaining process in which Hamas would exchange the lives of the hostages for its continued rule in Gaza.
Hamas now stands to rebuild its rule over Gaza, and to reconstitute its hold on the Strip
The ceasefire deal currently being implemented by the government of Israel and the once and future rulers of Gaza suggests that Hamas may well have achieved its goal.
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