Hamas Ready to Call an End To The War?
A senior ranking Hamas official has recently called for the immediate end to their war with Israel. Some news sources have been claiming that this is directly related to the election of Donald Trump. I believe that this is true to some extent, but not the way some of the headlines are spinning it. Basem Naim is Hamas's political Bureau member and spokesperson who was the one that originally made the claims that they are ready to turn a new chapter in this conflict. He stated ""The election of Trump as the 47th president of the USA is a private matter for the Americans, but Palestinians look forward to an immediate cessation of the aggression against our people, especially in Gaza, and look for assistance in achieving their legitimate rights of freedom, independence, and the establishment of their independent self-sovereign state with Jerusalem as its capital.". I believe that had the election gone either way this would have been the direction Hamas took, however under new US representation they might feel that they have a better chance on negotiating for what they want the outcome to lead to.
Israel has been accused by some to be committing genocide with some indiscriminate bombings that have claimed innocent lives and there defiantly can be an argument for this. Historically speaking this has been a strategy used by many countries, especially on both sides during WWII. The idea behind the fire bombings in Tokyo and the eventual usage of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki was that the Allied forces felt that they needed to break the will of the people to cause a surrender. This had the opposite effects on the UK when Germany was bombing their cities as it only strengthened the will of the people. If you look back even further in Sun Tzus Art of War, which is still referenced and studied by military officials today, he claims that you should break the will of the peoples support if you want to win a war. Morally this is highly debatable and by no means am I taking a side on what I think is right or wrong here, but we could be seeing that Israel using this strategy has worked out for them.
https://www.newsweek.com/hamas-calls-immediate-end-war-after-trump-election-win-1981571
Hey Sean!
ReplyDeleteThis was an interesting read. I thought it was interesting that you posited that Hamas would have put out the statement it did regardless of the results of the election.
I have to agree, but I don't see how either candidate would be beneficial toward the Palestinians right now. Neither Trump nor Harris took a strong stance on the war in Gaza right now, and although Harris said she wanted to work toward a ceasefire, I just didn't see her following through. I also definitely don't see Trump helping resolve the situation at all.
Hopefully I'm wrong and a ceasefire will be approved soon, but with America continuously vetoing ceasefire resolutions in the U.N., that seems more unlikely every day.
Interesting post this week!