Many people ask me if what Defense Minister Galant says that Israel’s successes in Lebanon will have a positive effect on reaching the release of the hostages in Gaza.
It seems to me that Hamas does not see the same picture as the Defense Minister and the rest of Israeli society.
From my acquaintance with Hamas and from hearing the statements of Hamas leaders, it seems to me that Hamas understands that Israel will be stuck in Lebanon in a long war of attrition in which Israeli soldiers and civilians will be killed on a regular basis, almost every day.
Hamas knows what its situation is and what its people’s situation is in Gaza and therefore, Hamas wants to end the war, but Hamas will not take any step that may be interpreted as surrender.
This is why Hamas does not admit publicly that it agrees to a three-week deal in which the war will end, Israel will withdraw from Gaza, there will be the release of all the hostages, and an agreed release of Palestinian prisoners.
Hamas wants Israel to take the first step and announce that it accepts the three week deal and then Hamas will inform the mediators that it is ready to discuss it also.
Sinwar saw Israel’s successes in Lebanon the same way he saw them in Gaza, but he knows that Hamas under his command still has a good ability to survive for a long time and continue to kill and wound Israeli soldiers and also fire more rockets against Israel.
Also, Hezbollah knows that it can continue to drive an entire country crazy by firing missiles and armed suicide drones into the center of the country against civilians and continue to kill Israeli soldiers in every corner of Lebanon.
We have a war of attrition in Gaza and in Lebanon, and there is no deal for the release of the hostages.
If we want to break this cycle of bloodshed, Defense Minister Gallant should inform Egypt and Qater that Israel is ready to discuss the three-week deal. Gallant seems to be the only member of the Israeli government who is able to promote a deal against the wishes of the Prime Minister and his close friend Itamar Ben Gvir.
The issue of the hostages has dropped from the attention of the public and the attention of the Israeli government because the public is convinced that Sinwar does not want a deal.
No one has heard this from Sinwar and there is no one in Israel who knows what Sinwar really wants.
In addition to that, according to my assessment, the excess weight of Sinwar in the decision-making mechanism in Hamas is less heavy than it was months ago.
Hamas has already declared victory (listen to Khaled Mashal’s last speech) because the Palestinian issue has returned to the world’s attention and the State of Israel is becoming a leper state in the eyes of many countries in the world.
Khaled Mashal is obviously wrong in declaring victory – because there are no winners here, there are only a lot of losers.
Israel will not lose its honor if it advances a deal that will return all the hostages while some are still alive (we hope).
The failure to return the hostages home is the greatest loss for Israel, and this must not happen.
