How Hamas sees the Gaza conflict unfolding - and why it thinks it can win
To find out what Hamas thinks of the 7 October attacks and the ongoing war, MEE spoke to a senior Palestinian source in touch with the political leadership of Hamas.
MEE put three main questions to him. Why did the attack take place when it did? Are Israel’s war aims achievable? What will Hamas think it has achieved when this war is over?
Why now?
The trigger for the 7 October attack was Hamas’s concern that far-right Jews intended to sacrifice an animal at the site of al-Aqsa Mosque, thus laying the ground for the demolition of the Dome on the Rock shrine, and the building of the Third Temple, he said.
Hamas had been following Israeli plans to institute a permanent Jewish presence within the al-Aqsa complex closely. Al-Aqsa is considered the third-holiest site in Islam and a symbol of Palestinian identity. It is known in Israel as the Temple Mount.
The daily presence of far-right Jews at al-Aqsa had already been achieved, with two daily incursions in the morning and afternoon in tours protected by heavily armed police and lasting from 30 minutes to an hour.
Can Hamas be wiped out?
It was not the first time Israeli leaders had vowed to wipe Hamas out - and every previous war had ended in Israeli withdrawal, he said.
Hamas leaders acknowledge that the scale of the devastation is different, but they still believe another Israeli withdrawal will be the final outcome, he added.
“But he [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu] has a big problem. Even if he succeeds in his war aim of eliminating the leadership of Hamas in Gaza, he still faces questions about his responsibility for the 7 October attack.”
The source dismissed the prospect of Israel achieving its main aim. He said it was physically impossible to finish Hamas off because of the size of the group and its dependents in Gaza.
“Hamas is part of the fabric of society. You have the fighters and their families. You have the charities and their families. You have the government workers and their families. Put that together and it’s a very substantial part of the people.”
What will Hamas have achieved after this battle is over?
Hamas does not think the clock can be put back to 6 October when the war ends, with Gaza starting all over again, he said.
“The 7 October attack gave a direct and exact message that Palestinians have the ability to defeat Israel and get rid of the occupation. For Hamas that is now a fact,” he said.
Hamas thinks the attack has broken a covenant that has existed between the Israeli army and the people since the declaration of the state in 1948.
The unspoken pact was that the people would send their sons and daughters to the army and the army would in return protect the country.
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