One of the objectives of the horrific October 7 attack, and the kidnappings that spearheaded it, was to draw Israel as deeply as possible into Gaza. The aim was for Israel to destroy Gaza and, in turn, be destroyed by the very ruin it created. The goal was for Israel to open the gates of hell and to burn alongside the Palestinians in the fire that erupts.
Unbeknownst to Israel, since the beginning of the war, Hamas has perfected a fighting strategy designed to harm the Palestinian civilian population in the Gaza Strip as much as possible. It is using Israel, just as al-Qaeda used American planes to strike American targets, to harm as many Gazans as possible, creating and exacerbating a humanitarian crisis.
Hamas, which once sent suicide bombers into Israeli cities, has horrifyingly evolved its method. It has now encircled the entire Gaza Strip with an explosive belt, placing the detonator in Israel’s hands. It has built a whole society that commits suicide, and in doing so, destroys its enemy.
Israeli war objectives and Hamas's goals
Israelis, to a person, can recite the war’s objectives in their sleep: the destruction of Hamas, the release of the hostages, and preventing Gaza from posing a future threat to Israel. But what are Hamas’s goals? They have been fighting for over two years, so what do they hope to achieve? While the release of their prisoners is certainly a goal, it is not their primary one. Their supreme objective is the destruction of the State of Israel, and they believe the path to this is through collective self-sacrifice and the annihilation of Palestinian society.
Israel, so focused on its own objectives, seems to have given no thought to its enemy’s goals. It appears to believe that Hamas has no goals, no strategy, and no coherent plan. Without understanding the enemy’s objectives, one cannot know if they are achieving them. Even more tragically, one might be unwittingly helping to fulfill them. Israel has never faced an enemy so willing to sacrifice everything.
Hamas actively seeks to engineer the widest possible humanitarian crisis, a goal it has pursued relentlessly since the first day of the war. They are nourished and strengthened by collective suffering in diverse and profound ways.
First, the crisis provides them with a growing number of recruits willing to join their ranks for a mere crust of bread. Second, they are in possession of essential goods that are worth a fortune, with a sack of flour fetching $300 and a sack of rice as much as $1,000. Third, they have transformed the massive rubble into an above-ground network from which their operatives can emerge.
Crucially, they have also succeeded in placing all blame on Israel, enabling an unprecedented and destructive campaign against it. The worse the situation in the Gaza Strip becomes, the better Hamas’s position. The more hunger and disease spread, the stronger Hamas gets, and the deeper Israel sinks. Without this crisis, Hamas is lost. This is their main source of strength, and Israel must strip it from them.
Defeating Hamas's strategy
Leaving Gaza is the singular path to defeating Hamas. By leaving, Israel would sever the organization’s lifeline: the escalating humanitarian crisis itself. The dire conditions in Gaza – the destruction, lack of food, and poverty – fuel Hamas’s recruitment and propaganda efforts.
By leaving, Israel would not only ensure that the hostages are not harmed but also that the opposition to Hamas would be strengthened. The moment the IDF leaves, in the face of the immense destruction and loss, and the power vacuum that will remain, tremendous forces will erupt.
The entire political and terror strategy of Hamas is built on the use of human shields, both physically and metaphorically. It uses the local population as a human shield by hiding among them and burrowing beneath them, doing everything in its power to ensure that as many civilians as possible are harmed. This is done to damage the image of the IDF as an army that kills civilians.
At the same time, Hamas uses Israel and its army as a human shield against the Gazan Palestinian public, casting all blame for their immense suffering on Israel under the cover of war.
A withdrawal would force Hamas to emerge from its tunnels and face a reality it cannot control and for which it cannot blame Israel. The responsibility for the horror unfolding in Gaza would then fall squarely on Hamas, in the eyes of the international community and, most importantly, in the eyes of the Gazan residents themselves.
Without Israel’s presence, there will be no one to restrain Hamas’s enemies. The ensuing chaos and internal conflicts will lead to Hamas’s destruction and disintegration, much like what has happened to Hezbollah and Bashar al-Assad in Syria.
Israel has already opened the gates of hell. Now, it must close them on their inhabitants, right before it is sucked in for good. It must allow the burning fire to consume this terrible regime, for it is written: “Your destroyers and those who made you desolate will go out from you.”
The writer is a PhD candidate in the Department of Middle East Studies at the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and a member of the researcher’s forum of the Elyashar Center at the Ben-Zvi Institute.