Hamas is terrorising Palestinians once again

With the remaining Israeli hostages now released, global attention has shifted to the Egyptian city of Sharm El Sheikh, where world leaders are gathering for a Gaza peace conference. US president Donald Trump will be there with Arab and European leaders. Hamas, the terror group currently in control of the Gaza Strip, will not.

What Hamas does next could determine the future of Gaza. Trump’s peace plan requires it to disarm and stipulates that it is to have no role in the governance of the strip. But Hamas is determined to hold on to power by any means. Now, with Israeli troops partly withdrawing as a result of the ceasefire, it is seizing the chance to strengthen its control.

Since Friday, when the ceasefire began, Hamas has worked quickly to achieve two things: re-establish its brutal control over Gaza and shape the global narrative in its favour.

It would be foolish to think that Hamas will simply lie down. Over the weekend, in a bold demonstration of strength and intent, dozens of its fighters stood guard outside a hospital in Khan Younis during the hostage handover. Visible were members bearing the insignia of Hamas’s elite ‘Shadow Unit’ – proof that, while heavily depleted, it has not yet been defeated.

The ceasefire with Israel has also allowed Hamas to turn its murderous attention to any opposition to its rule in Gaza. Throughout the war, small groups of Palestinian fighters and local clans have taken advantage of Israeli military bombardment to put pressure on Hamas. Now that a truce is in place, Hamas has started to brutally eliminate these rivals.

Hamas is trying to instil as much fear in the Gazan population as it can. Last month, outside al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City, it publicly executed three men accused of collaborating with Israel. They were blindfolded, kicked to the ground and shot in the head – all to cheers from those who had gathered to witness the executions. Hamas aims to terrorise potential challengers, whether ordinary civilians or members of hostile clans.

Critically, Hamas has openly refused to disarm. A senior official was even quoted recently as saying this would be ‘out of the question’ and ‘not up for negotiation’. Having seized Gaza by force in 2007 and maintained control since then, Hamas is committed to surviving both politically and militarily.

Hamas’s second objective is to influence the court of global public opinion. Hamas has framed the Gaza war as an Israeli-made tragedy of genocidal proportions. This has galvanised international pressure against Israel and partially absolved Hamas of blame for starting the war. Central to this propaganda push is the narrative of a ‘Gaza holocaust’ – an outrageous inversion of reality that casts Israel as a Nazi-like perpetrator and Palestinians as the victims of an extermination campaign. Indeed, Hamas leaders and their media mouthpieces have repeatedly invoked the Nazi Shoah to condemn Israel’s actions. While this media jihad may have been based on lies, it has succeeded in isolating Israel on the world’s stage.

Hamas’s ruthless and malignant nature means it will continue to be a difficult foe. We know it will stop at nothing in order to cling to power. It will use intimidation and bloodshed – and show the same contempt for Palestinian lives as it has shown for Israeli lives.

If Hamas manages to hold on to power in Gaza, any hope for a stable and non-violent future will vanish, at horrific cost to ordinary Palestinian people. It will take real pressure and determination – particularly from Arab countries – to remove Hamas for good.

Regardless of the outcome of the Egypt peace conference, one thing is crystal clear: Hamas’s actions are further proof it is a morally bankrupt, evil organisation. Its aims are not statehood or peace for Palestinians, but the perpetuation of its own Islamist tyranny and terror.

True progress in Gaza remains impossible as long as Hamas continues to poison the well.

Andrew Fox is a former British Army officer and an associate fellow at the Henry Jackson Society, specialising in defence and the Middle East.