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2025-06-19 Israel-Palestine-Jordan
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Deputy head of Hamas Politburo: War weakens Israel
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Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
by Kirill Semenov
[REGNUM] The direct military confrontation between Israel and the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) that began in June has had a profound and paradoxical impact on the position of the Hamas movement and the dynamics of the ceasefire negotiations in Gaza.
Instead of the expected weakening of the group and its positions, the escalation provoked an ultimatum of toughness in the movement and an even greater readiness to go to the end.
| I think Israel is quite willing to keep killing Gazan jihadis and destroying Hamas infrastructure — the tunnel complex, command & control points, etc — and war matériel, while continuing to close in on the remaining hostages, living and dead, day by day making it ever harder for Hamas to continue their war to wipe out the Jews until the point is reached that they can neither continue nor later recover and resume the effort. While they would prefer that Hamas, et al surrender, disarm, and leave the Gaza Strip for points far away, it’s clear that Hamas, et al have not yet reached that point. |
As Israel and Iran trade blows, the humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip has reached unprecedented proportions, becoming an instrument of political terror by Benjamin Netanyahu's government and an unbearable reality for its 2.5 million residents.
| An imaginary number based on double and triple counting sectors of the actual population on top of completely unjustified assumptions about birth and death rates. |
GAZA DISASTER
According to the UN World Food Programme, food supplies in Gaza are completely depleted, and Israel is openly using the restriction of humanitarian aid as leverage.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has warned of catastrophic shortages of essential medicines, exacerbated by delays in vital supplies at the border. The March strikes on Rafah paralysed the last functioning hospitals, completing the collapse of the health system.
Palestinian sources put the total casualties at 51,495, which, given the size of the enclave, would be equivalent to the loss of 7 million people in the United States. And that is far from the final death toll, as many bodies are still under the rubble. In essence, the stage has been set for a long-term demographic catastrophe in Gaza.
The deadlock in the negotiations before the Iran-Israel standoff began was a direct consequence of the changing positions of the parties and the deepening crisis of confidence. Israel and Hamas are becoming increasingly irreconcilable on key issues, and hopes for a compromise have all but dried up.
Hamas demands an immediate and complete ceasefire for five years with the mandatory withdrawal of Israeli troops, while Israel offers only temporary “pauses” lasting 45-60 days (with a possible extension to 90) without guarantees of the withdrawal of its army.
Another blocking factor remains Israel's demand for the complete disarmament of Hamas, which the group categorically rejects as its "red line".
The failure of the second phase of the truce in March, when Hamas accused Israel of failing to meet its withdrawal commitments, finally undermined the basis for compromise.
HAMAS INTENDS TO GO TO THE END
And so they shall...
The international context is also not conducive to resolving the crisis.
Attempts by mediators Qatar and Egypt to propose a “Five-year truce for all prisoners” plan have been met with Israel’s categorical rejection of any scenario that would involve Hamas maintaining a presence in Gaza after the end of active hostilities.
The G7's final statement, while supporting Israel's right to self-defense and calling Iran "the main source of instability," also called for restraint.
The US administration has reportedly discussed giving Israel bunker buster bombs to strike Iranian targets while trying to revive Gaza talks through Oman and Qatar, showing a dual approach that is unlikely to produce results.
According to sources of the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, including a senior Palestinian official involved in the negotiations, the Hamas leadership perceived the regional conflict as evidence that the main pressure from Israel and the United States after they resolve the issue with Iran will be focused exclusively on them.
This sense of isolation and siege, compounded by the prospect of losing its strategic rear – Iran (which may be unable to support its allies after unprecedented attacks) – has pushed Hamas to categorically demand legally binding guarantees of a complete and unconditional end to the war as the only condition for the release of all Israeli captives.
Internal discussions in the movement, according to sources, reflect a readiness for an "existential battle" and resistance to the end. Even at the cost of the death of all their leaders or in the event of a final loss of support from Tehran, they refuse to capitulate or make partial agreements, seeing in putting forward their own ultimatums the last lever of influence on the situation.
EMISSARY IN MOSCOW
Against the backdrop of an unprecedented regional escalation, a delegation from the Hamas movement, headed by one of the leaders of the organization and deputy head of the Politburo, Dr. Musa Abu Murzuq, paid an official visit to Moscow, where they held relevant consultations at the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which also touched on the topic of Israeli aggression against Iran.
Abu Murzuq also shared his assessment of the current situation with Regnum News Agency. He confirmed that Iran's defeat would be a heavy blow for both Hamas and the "Axis of Resistance" as a whole. However, Hamas does not intend to surrender or lay down its arms under any circumstances.
The Hamas leader stressed that Netanyahu had planned to strike Iran back in 1997. Since then, this task has always remained on the agenda of his cabinet, and now he has been able to move on to practical implementation.
"Gaza and Iran are two of Netanyahu's problems that he was going to solve by force," the Palestinian leader noted. At the same time, he emphasized that while there is no consensus in Israel regarding the continuation of the operation in Gaza, there is one regarding the attack on Iran.
Netanyahu took advantage of this by attacking the Islamic Republic, since ending the war would cost him not only his political career, but also his freedom due to the criminal cases opened against him, the progress of which is only hampered by martial law.
According to the Hamas spokesman, Tel Aviv has set itself far-reaching goals that go beyond dismantling Iran's nuclear and missile programs. Netanyahu is planning to destroy the Islamic Republic itself, that is, the Iranian state in its current form.
And here the main question is the position of the American administration.
While Donald Trump is against a major Middle East war, Netanyahu is ready to cross any “red lines,” including moving to a new level of escalation with the involvement of the entire region and the United States itself.
At the same time, as the Palestinian leader notes, if the aggression against the Islamic Republic does not lead to a change of power, and Iran retains the ability to continue its nuclear program, this can be called a success for Tehran.
Iran has all the opportunities to do this, he said. The IRI is a large state with a significant population, army and industry, and it is resistant to such influence. However, the country has internal problems, and Iranian society is divided. This is what Netanyahu will try to take advantage of.
According to the deputy head of the Hamas Politburo, Iran lacks confidence and readiness to go all the way without retreating from its intended goal. This concerns both the Islamic Republic's nuclear program and the current standoff with Israel and the goal-setting in this conflict.
PALESTINIANS WILL NOT LEAVE GAZA
| They would if they could, as they do from the West Bank, but Hamas has kept tight control of the border since they took control. |
Touching on the prospects for Hamas, Abu Murzuk noted that continuing the war certainly weakens Hamas, but it also weakens Israel, increasing the rift in society and leading to serious economic costs for the Jewish state.
| Not nearly as great as the costs would be were Israel to stop the war and surrender. Besides, The Innovation Nation can afford to finance their survival. |
The conflict with Iran could refocus the world's attention from the Gaza problem to the problem of resolving this crisis. For the deadlocked humanitarian situation around the enclave, this promises only greater difficulties.
At the moment, it seems that the tragedy of Gaza has reached its climax: civilians are dying not only from bombs and diseases, but also from a political stalemate in which humanitarian aid is reduced to a bargaining chip and life is devalued.
The forecasts remain extremely alarming.
Hamas' hardline stance, coupled with Israel's refusal to accept a political solution, risks a protracted and even bloodier guerrilla war of attrition, no matter how the conflict between Israel and the United States develops.
The continuation of the blockade and destruction threatens the complete collapse of the civil administration in Gaza, with the prospect of growing influence of clan structures and criminal groups.
At the same time, Iran, if Israel and the US fail to break it, will seek to use the Palestinian crisis to restore its regional influence and will continue to provide all possible assistance to Hamas.
Therefore, without the creation of an effective international peace enforcement mechanism and the launch of a parallel process that determines the political future of Palestine outside the logic of immediate military confrontation, the humanitarian and political crisis in Gaza risks becoming permanent, sowing the seeds of future, even more destructive conflicts.
At the same time, according to Abu Murzuk, Trump and Netanyahu's hopes that they will be able to force the Palestinians to leave Gaza under these conditions are unfounded.
Of course, as the Palestinian leader notes, some residents will leave the sector, and this is inevitable. He recalled that both Syrians and Iraqis fled because of wars. And after October 7, 2023, up to a million citizens left Israel.
But Palestinians have a special attachment to their homeland and have demonstrated this throughout history by trying to return to their homes whenever the opportunity presented itself, as happened in Gaza.
Therefore, the majority of Gazans certainly do not intend to leave and will remain on their land until the end.
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Posted by badanov 2025-06-19 00:00||
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