Middle East conflict
Report: Hamas seeks permanent state of war with Israel
How long will the state of war between Hamas and Israel last? photo
© HO/Israel Defense Forces/AP/dpa
What was the aim of the terrorist attack on Israel on October 7th? According to a report, the escalation of the conflict was deliberately accepted. Why is Hamas now hoping for a permanent state of war?
The Islamist Hamas has stopped the bloody terrorist attack According to a report in the New York Times, Israel consciously accepted an escalation of the conflict on October 7th. In the Islamists’ interpretation, the aim is to revive the faltering Palestinian cause through violence, the newspaper wrote, citing conversations with several Hamas representatives.
It was necessary to “change the entire equation and not just have a clash,” said Chalil al-Haja from the Hamas leadership to the newspaper in Doha. “We managed to put the Palestinian issue back on the table and now there is no peace for anyone in the region.”
In the eyes of Hamas, the many victims on the Palestinian side as a result of Israel’s reaction are the necessary price to pay for this, the newspaper writes. The organization’s calculation is to shake the status quo and open a new, explosive chapter in the fight against Israel.
Hamas: Hope for a permanent state of war
“I hope that the state of war with Israel on all borders will be permanent and that the Arab world will be on our side,” the New York Times quoted Taher al-Nunu, whom the newspaper described as Hamas’s media advisor.
“What could change the equation was a major action, and it was undoubtedly clear that the reaction to this major action would be large,” said Khalil al-Haja. “We had to tell people that the Palestinian cause will not die.”
Hamas’ goal is not to rule the Gaza Strip or to supply it with water and electricity. “This battle did not take place because we wanted fuel or manpower,” he added, according to the newspaper. “It wasn’t about improving the situation in Gaza. This battle is intended to completely overturn the situation.”
Normalization between Israelis and Saudis thwarted
According to a senior member, Hamas has prevented rapprochement between Israel and Saudi Arabia with its terrorist attack in Israel. But this was not the actual aim of the attack, said Osama Hamdan, a member of the Hamas Politburo, to the German Press Agency in Beirut. With the massacre, Hamas “thwarted Israel’s attempt to invade the region under the guise of normalization and violate the rights of the Palestinians.”
The Islamist organization actually only wanted to capture Israeli soldiers in its attack on October 7th in the border area, Hamdan explained. Civilians were taken hostage by “others”. He left it open who exactly these “other” people or groups are. Hamas will continue its fight against Israel.
Before the start of the Gaza war, there were many indications of a possible normalization of relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel with US mediation. Riyadh stopped talks because of the Gaza war. There is still interest on the Saudi side to pursue normalization, US National Security Council Communications Director John Kirby said last week. “It’s clear to us that the Saudis are still holding on to this.”
Saudi minister: rapprochement with Israel not off the table
Despite the Gaza war, a Saudi minister says there are still chances for rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Israel. The currently suspended talks about normalizing relations revolved around a “path to a peaceful solution to the Palestinian issue,” said Saudi Arabia’s Investment Minister Khalid al-Falih in Singapore. The issue is “not off the table,” said Al-Falih at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum.
The goal of the peace plan presented by Saudi Arabia in 2002 was a “normal Middle East” in which “all countries in the Middle East have normal relations and focus on economic prosperity.”