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For Hamas, Surrender or Capitulation Is Unthinkable

(Foreign Affairs) Leila Seurat - Since the Gaza war began, Hamas has remained closely allied with Islamic Jihad, which continues to hold one of the remaining Israeli captives, Rom Braslavski. A number of recent joint attacks on the IDF in Khan Yunis have in part been orchestrated by the joint operations room, an organization created by Hamas and Islamic Jihad back in 2006. Today, it brings together 12 Palestinian armed factions - including, alongside Hamas and Islamic Jihad, Saraya al-Quds, al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, Mujahideen Brigades, and Omar al-Qasim Brigades - and has become the place where many decisions about the war and negotiations are made. In recent weeks, there are signs that this broader front may be crumbling. Members of the joint operations room have called on Hamas to end the war. During a meeting with the head of Egyptian intelligence, some of these factions also criticized Hamas's procrastination on reaching a ceasefire. Still, these cracks in the coalition have not caused a shift in the brigades' determination to fight. There is actually a consensus among the factions that surrender or capitulation is unthinkable. As the core members of Hamas's Qassam Brigades see it, only continued attacks on Israeli troops will force Israel to agree to another ceasefire and end the siege. In their view, it was military pressure by Hamas that finally led Netanyahu to sign the U.S.-backed ceasefire in mid-January. The writer is a researcher at the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies (CAREP Paris) and the author of The Foreign Policy of Hamas: Ideology, Decision Making, and Political Supremacy.
2025-08-28 00:00:00
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