Abu Ali Express in English

Ceasefire agreement with Hamas: Hamas still controls the Gaza Strip. What next?

It is clear to all of us that Israel agreed to sign a ceasefire agreement with Hamas, while Hamas is still on its feet, still controls the Strip, and can still sooner or later pose a threat to the State of Israel.
It is true that its military array and its arsenal of armed men, which threaten Israel, have been dramatically reduced, but it is still the dominant and leading force in the Strip.

Israel cannot afford to put up with such a situation, neither from an immediate security perspective nor in terms of deterrence and visibility in the Middle East.

This is not a good ending point- it is even a bad ending point.

I see a lot of discussion on social media about whether Israel won or lost in the Gaza Strip.

If we look for a moment at the northern arena, many more Israelis believe (and not just Israelis) that Israel has clearly defeated Hezbollah.

At the same time, Hezbollah still possesses a threatening and significant military arsenal at this stage, significantly larger than that of Hamas.
Israel has eliminated many senior figures, including the most senior, from both Hezbollah and Hamas. And yet the opinion is that Israel clearly defeated Hezbollah, which is not the case when discussing Israel's campaign against Hamas.

Some reasons for this:
1. Hamas still controls the Gaza Strip.
2. Hamas still holds Israeli hostages.
3. Hamas is the one that carried out the most horrific massacre and is the one that initiated the opening blow of the most extensive war in the history of the State of Israel.

Reasons 2 and 3 also contain a very strong emotional effect. Hamas must be punished to the end and much more than others.
Section 1 concerns the future of the Strip and its relations with Israel and is very significant when examining the full range of considerations in a practical, cold mannar.

From the events of the past 24 hours, it appears that the Israeli government has decided to pursue a deal to release the hostages, in which the return of the hostages would be done in stages.

In the first phase of the deal, which will last 42 days, approximately 33 Israeli hostages will be released from Gaza in exchange for the release of hundreds of terrorists serving life sentences for murdering Israelis, along with the release of more than a thousand terrorists and detainees who are not sentenced to life sentences.
This is a very heavy price. Based on past experience, the meaning of such a release is an intensification of terrorism that will claim Israeli lives and may encourage other kidnappings in the future.

A moral question arises here, and it's hard for me to decide: whose blood is redder? That of the kidnapped or that of those who, God forbid, will be harmed by those murderers who are released?
I will not decide the issue. I do not feel I have the right to even express an opinion on the matter.

In my view, the central issue here is the continuation/non-continuation of Hamas rule in the Gaza Strip. I have written over the past year that Israel should agree at any stage to a cessation of hostilities if all the abductees are returned in parallel with Hamas' agreement to expel its people from the Gaza Strip.

I still think so. Removing Hamas from the Gaza Strip and toppling/ending its rule in the Gaza Strip is a necessary achievement without which it is impossible to say that Israel has won.

Therefore, at this stage, it is too early to form an opinion on whether Israel won or lost, in my opinion.

If, at the end of implementing Phase A of the deal, on the 42nd day, Israel moves on to implementing Phase B of the deal, which means ending the fighting, without Hamas' rule in the Gaza Strip having come to an end, then it will not be possible to say that Israel won the war.

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4.3K viewsJan 16 at 18:29

Ceasefire agreement with Hamas: Hamas still controls the Gaza Strip. What next?

It is clear to all of us that Israel agreed to sign a ceasefire agreement with Hamas, while Hamas is still on its feet, still controls the Strip, and can still sooner or later pose a threat to the State of Israel.
It is true that its military array and its arsenal of armed men, which threaten Israel, have been dramatically reduced, but it is still the dominant and leading force in the Strip.

Israel cannot afford to put up with such a situation, neither from an immediate security perspective nor in terms of deterrence and visibility in the Middle East.

This is not a good ending point- it is even a bad ending point.

I see a lot of discussion on social media about whether Israel won or lost in the Gaza Strip.

If we look for a moment at the northern arena, many more Israelis believe (and not just Israelis) that Israel has clearly defeated Hezbollah.

At the same time, Hezbollah still possesses a threatening and significant military arsenal at this stage, significantly larger than that of Hamas.
Israel has eliminated many senior figures, including the most senior, from both Hezbollah and Hamas. And yet the opinion is that Israel clearly defeated Hezbollah, which is not the case when discussing Israel's campaign against Hamas.

Some reasons for this:
1. Hamas still controls the Gaza Strip.
2. Hamas still holds Israeli hostages.
3. Hamas is the one that carried out the most horrific massacre and is the one that initiated the opening blow of the most extensive war in the history of the State of Israel.

Reasons 2 and 3 also contain a very strong emotional effect. Hamas must be punished to the end and much more than others.
Section 1 concerns the future of the Strip and its relations with Israel and is very significant when examining the full range of considerations in a practical, cold mannar.

From the events of the past 24 hours, it appears that the Israeli government has decided to pursue a deal to release the hostages, in which the return of the hostages would be done in stages.

In the first phase of the deal, which will last 42 days, approximately 33 Israeli hostages will be released from Gaza in exchange for the release of hundreds of terrorists serving life sentences for murdering Israelis, along with the release of more than a thousand terrorists and detainees who are not sentenced to life sentences.
This is a very heavy price. Based on past experience, the meaning of such a release is an intensification of terrorism that will claim Israeli lives and may encourage other kidnappings in the future.

A moral question arises here, and it's hard for me to decide: whose blood is redder? That of the kidnapped or that of those who, God forbid, will be harmed by those murderers who are released?
I will not decide the issue. I do not feel I have the right to even express an opinion on the matter.

In my view, the central issue here is the continuation/non-continuation of Hamas rule in the Gaza Strip. I have written over the past year that Israel should agree at any stage to a cessation of hostilities if all the abductees are returned in parallel with Hamas' agreement to expel its people from the Gaza Strip.

I still think so. Removing Hamas from the Gaza Strip and toppling/ending its rule in the Gaza Strip is a necessary achievement without which it is impossible to say that Israel has won.

Therefore, at this stage, it is too early to form an opinion on whether Israel won or lost, in my opinion.

If, at the end of implementing Phase A of the deal, on the 42nd day, Israel moves on to implementing Phase B of the deal, which means ending the fighting, without Hamas' rule in the Gaza Strip having come to an end, then it will not be possible to say that Israel won the war.

BY Abu Ali Express in English