Kann die Hamas besiegt werden?

Former Palestinian negotiator and policy analyst Ghaith Al Omari looks at whether or not Hamas is capable of being defeated, and brings significant nuance to the debate dominated by silly slogans like “you can’t kill an ideology”. He walks through why military action is a crucial prerequisite to defeating Hamas, and points out that while it doesn’t suffice alone, it is required to create the conditions for making Hamas a marginal insurgent group rather than a powerful governmental entity. He then suggests three important frameworks for how to think about defeating Hamas:

1) Constant security action is required to keep Hamas from reconstituting as a governing body or postwar spoiler.

2) Recovery and reconstruction must come after the war to signal that Gazans can begin a normal life, albeit after the tragedy of a necessary war, a normal life that would be forever impossible under Hamas rule.

3) The Palestinian Authority must be fixed. It is an undemocratic, terrorist-supporting, corrupt institution, and only good governance or a new governmental institution can fix the issues that arise from such a decrepit body.

These changes must come from Israeli action to keep down Hamas and allow in international reconstruction, but crucially must also come from Palestinian leaders who must reform themselves and their institutions. Israel can help, but can only do so much.