After Israel killed a string of its leaders, Hamas anointed new commanders to prime ranks, this time shrouding their identities in secrecy to guard them from assassination.
Israel vowed to crush Hamas in retaliation for the October 7 assault, launching a blistering offensive in Gaza that has massively weakened the motion whereas lowering a lot of the territory to rubble.
Hamas’s political chief Ismail Haniyeh, the top of its armed wing Mohammed Deif, and Yahya Sinwar, mastermind of the October 7 assault, have all been killed, as have a string of different commanders and political figures.
But not like its Lebanese ally Hezbollah, whose cult of character round its slain chief Hassan Nasrallah was a key pillar of its identification, Hamas has positioned much less of an emphasis on its prime ranks.
The group has remained tight-lipped over the names of its prime ranks, notably the Ezzedine al-Qassam brigades.
“The identify of the top of the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades will stay a secret,” mentioned a supply near Hamas’s armed wing.
Researchers say it’s possible that the position was inherited by Yahya Sinwar’s youthful brother Mohammed, whom Hamas put answerable for the hostages taken into Gaza in 2023.
“Yahya Sinwar’s character was moderately distinctive” and militants considered him as a “hero”, mentioned Laetitia Bucaille, who teaches political sociology on the INALCO institute of Center East research in Paris.
Mohammed Sinwar’s blood hyperlink to the slain commander, coupled along with his personal expertise within the brigades, have conferred upon him an automated authority, she mentioned.
– Collective management –
Israel vowed after October 7 to eradicate Hamas, and whereas the motion has suffered staggering losses, it has not been crushed.
In line with Yasser Abu Heen, founding father of the Gaza-based Safa information company, the lack of so a lot of its leaders has impacted Hamas, “however solely quickly”.
“These hits don’t pose an existential disaster, Hamas has its personal means of operating its establishments,” he mentioned. “Israel will be unable to eradicate it.”
Chatting with AFP on situation of anonymity, a member of Hamas’s political bureau described the way it acts because the motion’s government arm, voting on choices after which taking motion.
Political bureau membership is determined by the bigger Shura Council, the equal of a parliament, he added.
“We is not going to know the brand new leaders’ names. There is a push to maintain their identities secret, and to take care of a collective sense of energy,” mentioned Leila Seurat of the Arab Centre for Analysis and Political Research in Paris.
“This is not a motion based mostly on a charismatic management.”
Whereas Hamas has survived so far, it has but to make the hardest choice of all regarding its future position in Gaza and within the Palestinian battle for statehood.
Diminished below every day bombardment, Hamas faces calls for not simply from Israel however from powers world wide and even from some Palestinians to surrender energy.
– Dissent –
The Palestinian Authority, whose a long time of corruption contributed to Hamas’s ascent, has pitched itself as a reputable ruling entity for the battered territory.
Inside Hamas, discussions are raging on whether or not at hand over energy.
In line with sources cited by the Soufan Middle in New York: “The inner debate has intensified to the purpose the place some Hamas political leaders have thought-about breaking with the group’s army leaders in Gaza.”
Hamas isn’t any stranger to division, with Seurat pointing to crises prior to now over a spread of points from the Arab Spring to the motion’s alliance with Iran.
However the conflict with Israel has dropped at a head frustration amongst atypical Gazans sick of a battle that has killed many 1000’s and lowered their territory to rubble.
Musa Abu Marzouk, a number one Hamas determine concerned in talks over the ceasefire with Israel, advised The New York Instances in late February that so far as he was involved, “if it was anticipated that what occurred would occur, there would not have been October 7”.
In March, tons of of individuals took to the streets of Gaza, chanting “Out, out, Hamas out!”, after a uncommon name to protest circulated by way of Telegram.
“Some Palestinians need Hamas to go. Some have all the time been opposed, whereas others are simply fed up,” mentioned Seurat.
Stress alone is not going to work, nevertheless, as a result of Hamas has no viable competitor, and the folks of Gaza merely should not have the means to face as much as it.
“They’re nonetheless in management,” mentioned Bucaille. “Whereas Hamas has been weakened, nobody can stand as much as it for now.”
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