Palestinians walk past destroyed homes, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in Jabalia Refugee Camp, northern Gaza Strip, Jan. 20, 2025.Mahmoud Issa/Reuters
Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib is a Gaza analyst and commentator who is a resident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council in Washington, D.C.
The end of the fighting between Hamas and Israel in Gaza is a good initial step to reversing 15 months of unprecedented horror that was unleashed by the terror group’s Oct. 7 attack against Israeli communities near Gaza. The unfortunate reality, however, is that the ceasefire raises more issues and poses more challenges than it addresses, starting with the fact that its durability remains highly questionable beyond the first phase. Chief among the issues in this agreement is that it is not tied to a new political horizon to introduce alternatives to Hamas’s absolute control over the Gaza Strip and its 2.3 million Palestinian inhabitants.
Ahmed Fouad AlkhatibJulie Hrncirova / Abrakadabra / Oslo Freedom Forum 2024/Supplied
The ceasefire went into effect on Sunday, cemented by the handing over of three young Israeli female hostages to the Red Cross, which in turn transported them over to Israel. Before the exchange, however, Hamas engaged in an egregious display of showmanship by parading vehicles full of armed militiamen in uniform throughout the Gaza Strip to assert their presence and proclaim “victory.”
The delivery of the three young Israeli women to the Red Cross became a highly choreographed spectacle in which Hamas filled the public square with its armed and uniformed militiamen and with large numbers of the public, primarily young men and boys, participating in this shameful display for the whole world to see. In addition to this being a traumatizing and a deeply uncomfortable experience for the young Israeli women, it inflated Hamas’s ego at the utter expense of the Palestinian people of Gaza, who were portrayed as cruel and inconsiderate of what these hostages had been through.
Of course, the Palestinian people in Gaza have experienced horrendous trauma of epic proportions owing to the ruthlessness of Israel’s war in the coastal enclave. Unimaginable levels of death and destruction have generated resentment, anger, fury and heightened emotions, creating little space for mutual empathy and compassion. However, continuously using Gazans as pawns is a profoundly immoral and problematic strategy that does a great disservice to the Palestinian national project and Palestinians’ aspirations for freedom and statehood. Hamas has consistently made losing bets that have backfired horribly without ever changing course. The group is provoking the far-right and anti-Palestinian factions in Israel into resuming the war and ensuring that the next round will be even deadlier for the people of Gaza.
Disturbingly, Hamas will resume its policing and administrative control of the Strip with no real competition from the Palestinian Authority, moderate Arab countries, or international peacekeeping/policing forces, all of which were theoretical alternatives put forth as potential replacements for Hamas in numerous “day-after” discussions. This means that not only is there a heightened risk for the agreement to fall apart because of potential provocations by Hamas or an inability by the United States to pressure the Israeli government into sticking with the deal, but Gaza’s future remains bleak as long as the terror organization remains in full control of the battered territory that desperately needs transformation and rejuvenation.
War in Gaza made me lose faith in international law
The unprecedented global wave of support for the Palestinian cause after Oct. 7 has been largely squandered and redirected away from a pragmatic and meaningful set of objectives to hateful and maximalist narratives and rhetoric that directly and indirectly support Hamas’s positions. Large segments of the “pro-Palestine” community have devolved into becoming agents of chaos and menacing voices who are the worst possible allies for the Palestinian people’s just and urgent aspirations. Worse, a web of non-Palestinian “allies” embraced and fully supported these problematic and deeply troubling trends instead of challenging them, citing useless academic theories and overly simplistic frameworks.
What is needed now more than ever is to leverage the relative and perhaps temporary (but hopefully permanent) calm to think about and initiate political transformation in Gaza. While the priority should be aiding the Palestinian people and providing for the immediate needs of those who are displaced, sick, and needing urgent support, it will necessitate taking a step back and thinking about the big picture with all the moving geopolitical, security and international components that are part of this conflict.
There is no future for the Palestinian people without learning about Hamas’s inherently anti-Palestinian goals and objectives and exposing them before the entire world. Diaspora communities, particularly those in the Western world, have a significant role to play in making this happen and in actually being helpful allies for the Palestinian people.
The ceasefire and hostage deal in Gaza is merely a first step. Without courageous and bold thinking and action, it may become the last, merely freezing the conflict and setting the stage for the next round of deadly fighting.