After 15 months of war, Hamas still rules over what remains of Gaza

Fighters from the Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, control the crowd as Red Cross vehicles manoeuvre to collect Israeli hostages to be released under a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, in Gaza City, Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025. (AP)
Fighters from the Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, control the crowd as Red Cross vehicles manoeuvre to collect Israeli hostages to be released under a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, in Gaza City, Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025. (AP)
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Updated 20 January 2025
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After 15 months of war, Hamas still rules over what remains of Gaza

After 15 months of war, Hamas still rules over what remains of Gaza
  • Avi Issacharoff: “Hamas is going to remain in power and will continue to build more tunnels and recruit more men, without the emergence of any local alternative”
  • Israel has killed over 47,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials, and has reduced entire neighborhoods to fields of rubble

GAZA CITY: As a ceasefire brought calm to Gaza’s ruined cities, Hamas was quick to emerge from hiding.
The militant group has not only survived 15 months of war with Israel — among the deadliest and most destructive in recent memory — but it remains firmly in control of the coastal territory that now resembles an apocalyptic wasteland. With a surge of humanitarian aid promised as part of the ceasefire deal, the Hamas-run government said Monday that it will coordinate distribution to the desperate people of Gaza.
For all the military might Israel deployed in Gaza, it failed to remove Hamas from power, one of its central war aims. That could make a return to fighting more likely, but the results might be the same.
There was an element of theater in Sunday’s handover of three Israeli hostages to the Red Cross, when dozens of masked Hamas fighters wearing green headbands and military fatigues paraded in front of cameras and held back a crowd of hundreds who surrounded the vehicles.
The scenes elsewhere in Gaza were even more remarkable: Thousands of Hamas-run police in uniform re-emerged, making their presence known even in the most heavily destroyed areas.
“The police have been here the whole time, but they were not wearing their uniforms” to avoid being targeted by Israel, said Mohammed Abed, a father of three who returned to his home in Gaza City more than seven months after fleeing the area.
“They were among the displaced people in the tents. That’s why there were no thefts,” he said.
Other residents said the police had maintained offices in hospitals and other locations throughout the war, where people could report crimes.
Israel has repeatedly blamed Hamas for the heavy civilian death toll and damage to infrastructure because the group’s fighters and security forces embed themselves in residential neighborhoods, schools and hospitals.
A deeply rooted movement
Opinion polls consistently show that only a minority of Palestinians support Hamas. But the Islamic militant group — which does not accept Israel’s existence — is deeply rooted in Palestinian society, with an armed wing, a political party, media and charities that date back to its founding in the late 1980s.
For decades, Hamas functioned as a well-organized insurgency, able to launch hit-and-run attacks on Israeli forces and suicide bombings in Israel itself. Many of its top leaders have been killed — and quickly replaced. It won a landslide victory in 2006 parliamentary elections, and the following year it seized Gaza from the Western-backed Palestinian Authority in a week of street battles.
Hamas then established a fully-fledged government, with ministries, police and a civilian bureaucracy. Its security forces quickly brought Gaza’s powerful families into line and crushed rival armed groups. They also silenced dissent and violently dispersed occasional protests.
Hamas remained in power through four previous wars with Israel. With help from Iran it steadily enhanced its capabilities, extended the range of its rockets and built deeper and longer tunnels to hide from Israeli airstrikes. By Oct. 7, 2023, it had an army of tens of thousands in organized battalions.
In the surprise incursion that triggered the war, its fighters attacked southern Israel by air, land and sea, killing around 1,200 people, mostly civilians. Hamas-led militants abducted 250 others.
A war like no other
In response, Israel launched an air and ground war that has killed over 47,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials, and has reduced entire neighborhoods to fields of rubble. Some 90 percent of Gaza’s population has been displaced, often multiple times.
Nearly every day of the war, the Israeli military announced that it had killed dozens of fighters, or taken out a midlevel commander, or dismantled a tunnel complex or obliterated a weapons factory. Israeli forces killed Hamas’ top leader, Yahya Sinwar, and most of his lieutenants. But the exiled leadership is mostly intact and Mohammed Sinwar, his brother, has reportedly assumed a bigger role in Gaza.
The military says it has killed over 17,000 fighters — roughly half of Hamas’ estimated prewar ranks — though it has not provided evidence.
What Israel said were carefully targeted strikes frequently killed women and children and in some cases wiped out entire extended families.
The military blamed civilian casualties on Hamas. But survivors of the bombardment, crammed into tents after their homes were flattened, were a pool of potential recruits.
Earlier this month, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a prepared speech that Hamas had recruited nearly as many fighters as it lost during the war.
Michael Milshtein, an Israeli expert on Palestinian affairs and former military intelligence officer, said Hamas no longer has the ability to launch an Oct. 7-style attack but has returned to its insurgent roots, using creative tactics like harvesting unexploded Israeli ordnance for homemade bombs.
“Hamas is a chameleon. It changed its colors according to the circumstances,” he said.
“The war is ending with a strong perception of success for Hamas,” he added. “The enlistment capabilities will be crazy. They won’t be able to handle it.”
Israel ensures there is no alternative
Palestinian critics of Hamas have long said there is no military solution to the Mideast conflict, which predates the birth of the militant group by several decades.
They argue that Palestinians would be more likely to break with Hamas if they had an alternative path to ending Israel’s decades-long occupation, which has further entrenched itself during the war.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose government is opposed to Palestinian statehood, has ensured they do not.
He has rebuffed proposals from the United States and friendly Arab countries for a reformed Palestinian Authority to govern both Gaza and parts of the occupied West Bank ahead of eventual statehood. Instead, he has vowed to maintain open-ended security control over both territories.
Avi Issacharoff, a veteran Israeli journalist — and co-creator of the Netflix hit “Fauda” — said Netanyahu’s refusal to plan for the day after was the “biggest debacle of this war.”
“Israel is waking up from a nightmare into the very same nightmare,” he wrote in Israel’s Yediot Ahronot newspaper. “Hamas is going to remain in power and will continue to build more tunnels and recruit more men, without the emergence of any local alternative.”
Netanyahu has threatened to resume the war after the first six-week phase of the ceasefire if Israel’s goals are not met, while Hamas has said it will not release dozens of remaining captives without a lasting truce and an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.
There’s no reason to think another military campaign would bring about a different result.
In early October, Israeli forces sealed off the northern towns of Beit Lahiya, Beit Hanoun and Jabaliya, barring nearly all humanitarian aid, forcing thousands to flee and destroying nearly every structure in their path, including schools and shelters, according to witnesses who fled.
The army had carried out major operations in all three places previously, only to see militants regroup. At least 15 Israeli soldiers have died in northern Gaza this month alone.
When residents returned to Jabaliya on Sunday, they found a sprawling scene of devastation with only a few tilted shells of buildings in a sea of gray rubble.
Dozens of Hamas police kept watch over their return.

 


Egypt’s El-Sisi discusses Mideast peace with World Jewish Congress chief

Egypt’s El-Sisi discusses Mideast peace with World Jewish Congress chief
Updated 16 February 2025
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Egypt’s El-Sisi discusses Mideast peace with World Jewish Congress chief

Egypt’s El-Sisi discusses Mideast peace with World Jewish Congress chief

CAIRO: Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi told the head of the World Jewish Congress Ronald Lauder on Sunday that the establishment of a Palestinian state is “the only guarantee” for lasting peace in the Middle East.
During his meeting with Lauder in Cairo on Sunday, El-Sisi called for starting the reconstruction of war-battered Gaza “without displacing its residents from their land,” according to a statement from his office.
The Egyptian leader’s remarks come as Arab countries are scrambling to come up with an alternative to a controversial plan floated by US President Donald Trump to take over Gaza, redevelop the coastal territory and turn it into the “Riviera of the Middle East.”
Trump’s proposal envisages permanently resettling Gaza’s Palestinian residents elsewhere, including Egypt and Jordan, drawing widespread condemnation from Arab and world leaders.
“The establishment of a Palestinian state... is the only guarantee to achieve lasting peace,” El-Sisi told Lauder on Sunday.
According to the Egyptian presidency statement, Lauder praised Egypt’s “wise efforts” to restore stability in the region.
The leaders of Egypt, Jordan, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates are set to met in Riyadh on Thursday to discuss Trump’s proposal, ahead of an emergency Arab League summit in Cairo a week later to discuss the same issue.
 


Shipment of ‘heavy’ US bombs arrives in Israel

Shipment of ‘heavy’ US bombs arrives in Israel
Updated 16 February 2025
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Shipment of ‘heavy’ US bombs arrives in Israel

Shipment of ‘heavy’ US bombs arrives in Israel
  • Development takes place as US secretary of state discusses Gaza truce with Israel PM 
  • Israel, Hamas complete sixth swap of nearly month-old ceasefire after 15-month war

TEL AVIV:  Israel’s defense ministry said Sunday that a shipment of “heavy” US-made bombs arrived overnight in Israel, as Marco Rubio began his first visit to the country as Washington’s top diplomat.
“A shipment of heavy aerial bombs recently released by the US government was received and unloaded overnight in Israel,” the ministry said in a statement, referring to MK-84 munitions recently authorized by President Donald Trump’s administration.
Rubio landed at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv and is due to hold talks with Israeli officials on Sunday when he will highlight Trump’s controversial proposal to take control of the Gaza Strip, which has been devastated by more than 15 months of war between Hamas and Israel.
Coming from Munich, where he took part in a security conference dominated by the Ukraine war, the top US diplomat is set to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Sunday.
Netanyahu, who recently visited Washington where he met Donald Trump, expressed his appreciation for the US president’s “full support” for Israel’s next moves in Gaza.
“Israel will now have to decide what they will do,” Trump posted on Truth Social on Saturday.
“The United States will back the decision they make!” he added.
Rubio arrived in Israel hours after Hamas freed three Israeli hostages in Gaza in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in the sixth swap of a nearly month-old ceasefire.
The ceasefire came close to collapse earlier this week and Netanyahu credited “President Trump’s firm stance” with ensuring Saturday’s releases went ahead.
In his meetings, the US top diplomat is expected to discuss the second phase of the ceasefire, which should see the release of remaining hostages and a more permanent end to the war but which has yet to be agreed in detail.
A source close to the negotiations said mediators hope to begin talks on the second phase “next week in Doha.”
Washington has expressed openness to alternative proposals from Arab governments but has stressed that currently, “the only plan is Trump’s.”
Trump has proposed taking control of the Palestinian territory and displacing its residents to Egypt or Jordan, both of which strongly oppose the proposal.
Trump has warned of repercussions for Egypt and Jordan if they do not allow in the more than two million Palestinians in Gaza.
“Right now the only plan — they don’t like it — but the only plan is the Trump plan. So if they’ve got a better plan, now’s the time to present it,” Rubio said on Thursday.

 


Hamas ministry says Israel strike kills three policemen in Gaza

Hamas ministry says Israel strike kills three policemen in Gaza
Updated 16 February 2025
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Hamas ministry says Israel strike kills three policemen in Gaza

Hamas ministry says Israel strike kills three policemen in Gaza

GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories: Hamas said an Israeli strike on Sunday killed three police officers near the southern Gaza city of Rafah, a day after Israel and militants carried out a hostage-prisoner swap.

The Hamas-run interior ministry initially reported that two officers were killed and a third was critically wounded in a strike while they were deployed in the Al-Shouka area, east of Rafah, to secure aid.

The third officer later succumbed to his wounds, the ministry said in an updated statement.

The Israeli military said in a statement that its air force struck “several armed individuals moving toward troops in the southern Gaza Strip.”

A fragile ceasefire that came into effect on January 19 between Israel and Palestinian Islamist group Hamas has largely brought a pause to more than 15 months of fighting in the coastal Palestinian territory.

Since then, Israel has conducted at least one other air strike in Gaza. On February 2, it said one of its aircraft fired toward a “suspicious vehicle” in central Gaza.

The ceasefire was more recently put to test when Hamas said it would not release Israeli hostages on Saturday, accusing Israel of violating terms of the agreement, particularly on the topic of aid entry.

In response, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had warned Israel would resume “intense fighting” in Gaza unless Hamas returns the hostages by noon on Saturday.

Following intense mediation by Qatar and Egypt the latest hostage-prisoner swap was carried out on Saturday.


Netanyahu says Israel and Trump have ‘common strategy’ on Gaza

Netanyahu says Israel and Trump have ‘common strategy’ on Gaza
Updated 9 min 25 sec ago
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Netanyahu says Israel and Trump have ‘common strategy’ on Gaza

Netanyahu says Israel and Trump have ‘common strategy’ on Gaza
  • Rubio to discuss Gaza truce with Israel PM on first leg of Mideast tour

TEL AVIV:  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that Israel and US President Donald Trump had a “common stragegy” on Gaza’s future, after he met visiting top US diplmat Marco Rubio.
“We discussed Trump’s bold vision for Gaza’s future and will work to ensure that vision becomes a reality,” Netanyahu told reporters after the meeting, adding that the two leaders had a “common strategy” for the future of the Palestinian territory.
Rubio landed at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv and is due to hold talks with Israeli officials on Sunday when he will highlight Trump’s controversial proposal to take control of the Gaza Strip, which has been devastated by more than 15 months of war between Hamas and Israel.
Coming from Munich, where he took part in a security conference dominated by the Ukraine war, the top US diplomat is set to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Sunday.
Netanyahu, who recently visited Washington where he met Donald Trump, expressed his appreciation for the US president’s “full support” for Israel’s next moves in Gaza.
“Israel will now have to decide what they will do,” Trump posted on Truth Social on Saturday.
“The United States will back the decision they make!” he added.
Rubio arrived in Israel hours after Hamas freed three Israeli hostages in Gaza in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in the sixth swap of a nearly month-old ceasefire.

Israel’s defense ministry also said Sunday that a shipment of “heavy” US-made bombs arrived overnight in Israel. 
“A shipment of heavy aerial bombs recently released by the US government was received and unloaded overnight in Israel,” the ministry said in a statement, referring to MK-84 munitions recently authorized by Trump’s administration.
The ceasefire came close to collapse earlier this week and Netanyahu credited “President Trump’s firm stance” with ensuring Saturday’s releases went ahead.
In his meetings, the US top diplomat is expected to discuss the second phase of the ceasefire, which should see the release of remaining hostages and a more permanent end to the war but which has yet to be agreed in detail.
A source close to the negotiations said mediators hope to begin talks on the second phase “next week in Doha.”
Washington has expressed openness to alternative proposals from Arab governments but has stressed that currently, “the only plan is Trump’s.”
Trump has proposed taking control of the Palestinian territory and displacing its residents to Egypt or Jordan, both of which strongly oppose the proposal.
Trump has warned of repercussions for Egypt and Jordan if they do not allow in the more than two million Palestinians in Gaza.
“Right now the only plan — they don’t like it — but the only plan is the Trump plan. So if they’ve got a better plan, now’s the time to present it,” Rubio said on Thursday.

 


Turkiye says it would reconsider its military presence in Syria if Kurdish militants are eliminated

Turkiye says it would reconsider its military presence in Syria if Kurdish militants are eliminated
Updated 16 February 2025
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Turkiye says it would reconsider its military presence in Syria if Kurdish militants are eliminated

Turkiye says it would reconsider its military presence in Syria if Kurdish militants are eliminated
  • The Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, has waged an insurgency against Turkiye for decades, seeking greater autonomy for Kurds

BEIRUT: Turkiye’s foreign minister said Saturday his country would reconsider its military presence in northeastern Syria if that country’s new leaders eliminate a Kurdish militant group designated as a terrorist organization by Turkiye, the United States and the European Union.
Hakan Fidan spoke at the Munich Security Conference alongside Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Al-Shaibani, who did not comment on the remarks. Fidan has expressed such sentiments before.
The Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, has waged an insurgency against Turkiye for decades, seeking greater autonomy for Kurds.
“We can’t tolerate armed militia in any form,” Fidan said. He said such groups should be integrated “under one national army” in Syria and noted that its new leaders have been responsive to that idea.
Al-Shaibani did speak in support of disarming all non-state factions and of including Kurds in Syria’s new government.
The presence of Turkish-backed forces in northeastern Syria has increased substantially since insurgent groups ousted former President Bashar Assad late last year, and the forces have been targeting Kurdish forces more often.
Turkiye also views the Syrian Democratic Forces, a US-backed military Kurdish alliance in Syria, as an extension of the PKK. That has led to ongoing military confrontations between Turkish-backed forces and the SDF in northern Syria.
While most insurgent groups have agreed to integrate into the new Syrian army, the SDF has refused.
“Kurds are part of the Syrian nation but they can’t have their own army, as this is against our unity,” said another speaker on Saturday’s conference panel, Hind Kabawat of the Center for World Religions, Diplomacy and Conflict Resolution.