Hamas Archives - Page 6 of 32

‘Yes, it is Genocide,’ Leading Israeli Author Says

CrossFireArabia
August 1, 2025

David Grossman, one of Israel’s most prominent authors, told Italian daily La Repubblica he has decided to start using the word “genocide” to describe the situation in Gaza.

“For years, I refused to use the word ‘genocide.’ But now I can’t hold back from using it, after what I’ve read in the newspapers, after the images I’ve seen and after talking to people who have been there”, he said in the interview published in the paper’s print edition on Friday.

Grossman said coming to the realization that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza was an extremely painful process on a personal level, but that he now found such conclusion inescapable.

“I want to speak as a person who has done everything he could to avoid having to call Israel a genocidal state. And now, with immense pain and a broken heart, I have to say that it is happening before my eyes. Genocide,” he said.

The Israeli writer went on to say he now feels a moral obligation to speak up. “I feel an inner urgency to do the right thing, and now it is the time to do it,” Grossman said.

Asked by the journalist about the spiraling death toll in Gaza, he said: “I feel sick. Even though I know that those numbers are controlled by Hamas and that Israel cannot be solely responsible for all the atrocities we are witnessing. Nevertheless, reading in the newspaper or hearing in conversations with friends in Europe the juxtaposition of the words ‘Israel’ and ‘hunger’; to do so starting from our history, from our supposed sensitivity to the suffering of humanity, from the moral responsibility we have always claimed to have towards every human being and not only towards Jews… all this is devastating”, he said.

Grossman’s words come amid growing condemnation of Israel for its actions in Gaza on the international stage, and as several countries, including France and Britain, have pledged to recognize a Palestinian state in the near future.

Palestinians receive food at an aid distribution hub in Gaza City, Friday.

The use of the word genocide to describe Israel’s war in Gaza is also becoming more common in international intellectual circles.

In mid-July, an opinion piece titled “I’m a Genocide Scholar. I Know It When I See It” in the New York Times by Professor Omer Bartov, an Israeli professor of Holocaust and genocide studies at Brown University, made the case for the use of the word genocide.

Grossman, who is one of Israel’s most well-known writers abroad, has long been a vocal critic of Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories. The editor of The New Yorker, David Remnick, recently described him as “the only [living Israeli] novelist with comparable moral authority” to that of the late Amos Oz. In the interview in La Repubblica, he reiterated that he considers Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza after the Six-Day War as a key watershed moment in the country’s history.

“I am absolutely convinced that Israel’s curse began with the occupation of the Palestinian territories in 1967. Perhaps people are tired of hearing about it, but that is how it is,” he said.

Grossman also noted it is critical to ensure those harboring antisemitic sentiments do not “use and manipulate” the word genocide. He also criticized Hamas for turning Gaza into a base for launching rockets into Israel in the aftermath of Israel’s withdrawal in 2005.

“The Palestinians’ big mistake is that they could have turned the Strip into a thriving place, but instead they gave in to fanaticism and used it as a launching pad for missiles against Israel”, he said.

“If they had made the other choice, perhaps this would have prompted Israel to also give up the West Bank and end the occupation years ago”, he said.

Grossman also added that many around the world still fail to understand the magnitude of the trauma of October 7 for Israelis.

“Many people still don’t understand what it meant for us. Many people I know [in Israel] have abandoned our common left-wing values since that day; they have given in to fear, and suddenly their lives have become easier, they feel accepted by the majority, they no longer need to think,” he said.

Grossman considers resettling Gaza, as some Israeli ministers advocate, wrong and self-defeating. “I hear people like Smotrich and Ben-Gvir saying that we must rebuild settlements in Gaza, but what are they saying? Don’t they remember what happened when we were there, with Hamas killing hundreds of Israeli civilians, women and children, without us being able to protect them? We did not leave Gaza out of generosity, but because we could not protect our people”, he argued.

Looking forward, Grossman said he remains a believer in the two-state solution. As such, he praised French President Emmanuel Macron’s decision to recognize a Palestinian state, that was followed by similar statements by other leaders. “I don’t understand the hysteria it has provoked here in Israel”, he said.

Finally, Grossman rejected accusations that Israel’s cultural elites should have taken a stronger stance on what is happening in Gaza a lot faster. “I believe that targeting those who have fought the Occupation for 70 years, who have invested most of their lives and careers in this battle, is unfair”, he concluded.

Haaretz

Analyses

Palestinian State Out of Gaza Horrors?

Dr Khairi Janbek
July 30, 2025

It is hoped that the appeals for more recognitions of the Palestine state in the UN General Assembly in New York will increase pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his coalition partners to drastically change course and make the Palestinian state a reality.

Notwithstanding the US neutrality recognition, at least as things stand now, coupled with the increased efforts from the European Union, Israel stands to be ostracized in the international community.

One point remains rather curious however, is UK’s Premier Keir Starmer’s condition being that Britain will recognize a Palestinian state if Israel refuses to accept a ceasefire on Gaza.

For all intents and purposes, it seems what Starmer is interested in, is basically a ceasefire and then Palestinian state, but then again this is for the British government to ponder on in the face of the rolling train of recognitions.

But what does this recognition entails in practical terms? It basically means the stalled Oslo negotiations since 1993 are to be revived again, and if need be on different terms than what was envisioned before. Here one says different terms because the Oslo agreements were guaranteed by the world powers and nothing came out of them.

Indeed much more must be done by the world community, especially that now, we have a more difficult and intransigent Israeli government which needs above all else to accept, at least in principle, the two-state solution.

But also and at the same time time, the recognition of a Palestinian state entails the recognition of a Palestinian leadership with the ability and responsibility to represent the Palestinian people.

One supposes there is a general consensus on that now since the current PNA has become defunct and its current leadership obsolete in front of the immense responsibilities and tasks ahead.

In brief, it would be a mere rhetorical smokescreen to call on recognizing a Palestinian state without actually paving the way for the creation of such a state by totally changing the current PNA leadership via honest elections supervised by the international community and which represent the will of the Palestinian people.

Of course one cannot but insist, that the Arab role in the newly envisaged peace process is crucial. One also cannot help but think that the role of Saudi Arabia will be crucial for the next phase. For start, the precondition of Saudi for any form of dealings with Israel, is for the latter to accept the principle of two-state solution, and in fairness it must be clarified that the French-Saudi initiative which led Emmanuel Macron to recognize a Palestinian state was supposed to be declared in in Paris.

But now due to this effort, it has become an international case at the UN. Israel has failed with all of its endeavors to normalize relations with Saudi Arabia without giving any concessions, mainly the acceptance of the precondition of the recognition of the two-state solution, and now it is facing both the pressure of the international community and the condition of the Saudis, especially they shift their strategy from the UAE to India, and without the Saudis they will have nothing in the Gulf.

But still there is the bleeding wound of Gaza, the wound which can never start to heal without a collective Arab effort led by the Saudis which takes back to the conundrum of Israel’s acceptance of the principle of Palestinian state. Only then can Saudi Arabia lead the Arab effort, to first of all disarm Hamas, give an amnesty to Hamas members, and exile its leadership out of Gaza, in the hope of rehabilitating the strip and start in earnest the reconstruction efforts.

Opinion

What to Do About Hamas?

Dr Khairi Janbek
July 3, 2025

By Dr Khairi Janbek

The avowed declared intention of Benjamin Netanyahu, remains the destruction of Hamas, as he repeatedly says that the war against Hamas will not stop until it is totally disarmed and there will no more ‘Hamastan’.

This is while on the other side of the world is President Trump who is very much interested in a ceasefire and the release of the remaining hostages while blowing hot and cold in his habitual manner of ambiguity regarding the future of of the Islamic organization.

This may cause a divergence of views between Netanyahu and Trump in their up coming discussions, despite the fact that Trump went the extra mile as he threatened to withhold aid to Israel if Netanyahu is taken to court whilst Netanyahu responded by returning the compliment, saying that a couple-of-months ceasefire and the release of the living hostages as well as the dead bodies, are not mutually exclusive with the ultimate aim of destroying Hamas.

Admittedly, one always had one’s own doubts about the destruction of Hamas, probably because one always believed that the objectives of Israel’s foreign policy is to have a weakened PNA by Hamas and Hamas weakened by the PNA, which meant that neither should be destroyed, rather, to be weakened as circumstances required.

However, having said that, the most recent menacing Israeli government voices are talking about more dangerous developments, the first being taking control of the West Bank, which basically means either the end of the PNA or merely becoming an Israeli Bantustan administration, rendering the concept, let alone the fact, of a Palestinian state superfluous.

While the other development, is the call for Gaza , with or without Hamas, to be under a future Arab administration. Now which Arabs are going to be part of this administration is still unclear, but certainly the implications are clear, basically the financing of reconstruction which requires wealthy Arab participation, by default a participation of normalizing Arabs with Israel, with enough muscle to keep Hamas at bay, armed or otherwise.

In any case something may well be hammered in Washington when Trump meets Netanyahu, and the Arabs are bound to know its consequences.

Dr Janbek is a Jordanian writer based in Paris

Opinion

Middle East End Game!

Dr Khairi Janbek
June 25, 2025

By Dr Khairi Janbek

For the last four decades, each time a tragic event or another took place in the Middle East, the slogan that gets thrown onto the arena is that of a “new Middle East”. No one is certainly not against a new Middle East per se, but against the one in which someone acts stupidly and then against the stupid acts of someone else to stop the first one from acting stupidly.

Such a series of stupid events makes one think that the notion of the Middle East is supposed to be worse for the peoples of the region except most probably, Israel. Into the fray, is the idea of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who wants to change the face of the region, giving the impression this region is the face and Netanyahu is the make-up artist whom to make this “face beautiful” for Israel and probably with those grudging consent of those around it.

Now, considering what has been achieved on the ground as far as Israel is concerned in relation to Netanyahu’s end game may well be too early to tell, but at least one can say that Israel has gained a respite with its seeming regional supremacy.

The start was with crippling the threat capability of Hezbullah and although it has not been destroyed, the responsibility for dealing with this Iranian proxy is now left to the new Lebanese government, which means that the latter will have to bear the new/old responsibility.

Then Syria came along. After the demise of the Assad regime, all Syrian military capabilities became fair game for Israeli bombardement, but in fairness, they were already so during the past Assad regime. Now, however, Israel has gone further, occupying the buffer zone between the two states while expanding its security zone deep inside Syria. Here, the project being pursued is a push for a federal structure to make the country incapable of becoming a future threat to Israel.

As for the 12-day campaign of bombardment and counter-bombardment by Israel and Iran with US cameo appearance, it is hard to reach any conclusions because of the great damage on both sides that is not really known as it verges on exaggerations, either for seeking international sympathy or as a show of awkward display of power.

Here, the end game was for Iran to be stopped from backing its proxies in Yemen, Iraq, and Lebanon and to eliminate its nuclear capability, if indeed it has reached such a level. Here, again, it is very hard to say to what extent the Iranian nuclear program has been set back, and to what extent Iran will go on the diplomatic path to stop its military support for its regional proxies.

Inevitably, we go back in circles, to the bleeding wound of Gaza, bleeding for the Palestinians, Arabs and Israelis. End game, ideal scenario and possible solution are all lost between the Israeli genocide policy, Arab impotence and naïveté , EU flip-flopping in accordance with the change of wind, and Trumpist absurd proposals and change of mind.

The issue here is far beyond Hamas, it’s Gaza and its people. As things stand the strip is divided into three regions under starvation. A massive refugee camp for people on their own land which for all intents and purposes, will no longer be their land. All in all, Israel is, with the consent of all, will be the supreme power in the region.

Dr Janbek is a Jordanian writer based in Paris, France.

News

Israel Officer, 6 Soldiers Killed in Hamas Ambush

CrossFireArabia
June 25, 2025

The Israeli occupation army acknowledged that one officer and six soldiers were killed in battles in the southern Gaza Strip. Their acknowledgement came after Israeli media reported that four soldiers were killed and 17 wounded in a “complex ambush” in Khan Yunis.

The Israeli army also admitted that 16 other soldiers from the 605th Combat Engineering Battalion were wounded in the Khan Yunis resistance ambush. The army noted that the seven soldiers were completely burned after an explosive device detonated in a Puma armored vehicle in Khan Yunis, and that evacuating them from the scene was difficult.

Israeli media described their deaths as one of the most difficult incidents the army experienced in recent months.

Yedioth Ahronoth reported that an initial investigation revealed that the tanker burned down along with the soldiers inside, and that it took the army hours to identify them after the incident. It noted that the evacuation helicopters returned empty to bases after the army was forced to evacuate the armored personnel carrier and its passengers into Israel.

The newspaper also reported that the army has not yet found the fighters who planted the explosive device. Israeli media reported that fierce fighting took place at the site and that Palestinian resistance fighters targeted the rescue force.

Israeli media reported, Tuesday, that soldiers were missing at the ambush site in Khan Yunis and indicated that the air force was intensifying its flights to evacuate the wounded and attempt to locate the missing soldiers.

The Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the Hamas military wing, announced that its fighters carried out a complex ambush targeting an Israeli force, killing and wounding its members in Khan Yunis.

The Brigades said via Telegram that its fighters targeted the Israeli force inside a house south of Khan Yunis with an Al-Yasin 105 missile and an RPG, killing and wounding Israeli soldiers.

The developments in Khan Yunis come amid repeated attacks by Palestinian resistance fighters on occupation forces in the southern and northern Gaza Strip.

The Al-Qassam Brigades also announced that they had targeted a Merkava tank south of Khan Yunis. The Brigades stated, via their Telegram account, that they had targeted the tank with a Shawaaz IED and a Yassin 105 shell in the old licensing area south of Khan Yunis.

For its part, the Al-Quds Brigades announced that they had shelled gatherings of Israeli soldiers in the “Western Line” area north of Khan Yunis with mortar shells. They stated that they had observed shells falling among Israeli soldiers and the movement of military vehicles and helicopters to evacuate the dead and wounded. They confirmed that their fighters had destroyed an Israeli military vehicle with a high-explosive device in the center of Khan Yunis, south of the Gaza Strip.

The Al-Qassam Brigades announced earlier today that they had killed three Israeli soldiers in Jabalia, north of the Gaza Strip according to Al Jazeera.