Netanyahu Has Reportedly Opted For Permanent Military Occupation Of Gaza
“The decision has been made, we’re going to occupy Gaza.”
Hamas does seem to have been emboldened by the growing international pressure on Israel, and has backed away from negotiations to release the remaining 50 Israeli hostages, 20 of whom are said to be still living.
Ghazi Hamad, a member of Hamas’s political bureau, said in an August 2, 2025 interview on Al-Jazeera Network (Qatar) that international recognition of a Palestinian state is an outcome of the October 7 attack. He said that Palestinian weapons are central to the Palestinian cause, and all Palestinians, not just Hamas, have been raised with this mindset. Surrendering Hamas’s weapons, he said, would mean the end of the Palestinian cause, adding: “Israel can dream we will surrender our weapons to it.” Hamad claimed that Palestinians are not doing anything illegal, are not terrorists, and are not using terrorist methods. He said that the countries now recognizing a Palestinian state had not dared to do so before October 7, but the attack forced the world to open its eyes to the Palestinian cause. He added that another outcome of October 7 is that the “mask has fallen from Israel’s face,” and that the world is now acting against Israel, including rallies in the U.S., Britain, France, and Germany that describe Israeli actions as genocide. Hamad stated that October 7 proved that defeating Israel is not as difficult as previously believed.
Israel’s foreign minister, Gideon Sa’ar, said that Hamas’s triumphalism is due to the actions of France, the United Kingdom, and Canada, which said last month that they would recognize a Palestinian state at the United Nations General Assembly in September.
