Hamas does not want any US intervention in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, they fear that this would disrupt their Jihad (holy war) against Israel.
By Khaled Abu Toameh, Gatestone Institute
The Iran-backed Palestinian terrorist group Hamas has responded to US President Donald Trump’s plan to relocate the Palestinians of the Gaza Strip by threatening to resort to violence against Americans.
In a statement, Hamas said that the Palestinians will “confront the plan with resistance and necessary force.”
This threat is directed not only against the US, but also against Palestinians of the Gaza Strip, many of whom would be happy to move to another place where they could live in security and peace.
Hamas is basically saying that if the Trump administration dares to implement the relocation and reconstruction plan, the terrorist organization will unleash a wave of terrorism against Americans and Palestinians.
The Trump administration should not underestimate such threats by Hamas, which started the war in the Gaza Strip 15 months ago when its members, together with thousands of “ordinary” Palestinians, attacked Israel, murdered more than 1,200 people and wounded thousands others.
Another 250 Israelis, including children, women, and the elderly, were kidnapped to the Gaza Strip, where 79 are still held in captivity.
Hamas already bears full responsibility for the death of thousands of Palestinians and the destruction of the Gaza Strip.
Since the announcement of the US-brokered ceasefire-hostage deal in mid-January, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have discovered that during the war, their homes were destroyed.
Large parts of the Gaza Strip, especially the northern part, have become uninhabitable because of the absence of water, electricity and medical facilities, and the presence of unexploded bombs.
“There is no life in the northern Gaza Strip,” said a Gaza resident.
“The documentation on social media reflects only 20% of the destruction. The situation is indescribable. People don’t understand the situation. The brain collapses. People have started talking to themselves.”
Palestinian human rights activist Bassem Eid pointed out that many Palestinians living under Hamas wanted to leave the Gaza Strip long before the Israel-Hamas war began on October 7, 2023.
“When I asked my Palestinian brothers and sisters in Gaza what their top priorities were before the war, their answers were clear: a job to support their families, access to quality education, and reliable healthcare. Now, many are left jobless, homeless, and desperate for a future that seems impossible. With Gaza in ruins and Hamas holding its grip on the people, the situation is dire.
“President Trump’s proposal to allow Palestinians to leave Gaza offers a lifeline. It provides the opportunity to escape the suffocating control of Hamas and to find a place where they can rebuild their lives — where their children can have access to education, where they can work with dignity, and where their families can be safe and healthy. It’s not just a chance for relocation, but a real opportunity for liberation from terror, for a future they deserve.
“This isn’t about abandoning Gaza; it’s about giving its people a way out of oppression. The hope is that one day they can return to a Gaza that is free from Hamas, where peace and prosperity can truly take root.”
Hamas does not want any US intervention in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The terrorist group, together with Iran’s terror proxies, fear that this would disrupt their Jihad (holy war) against Israel.
Hamas does not want Palestinians to leave the Gaza Strip: it wants to continue using them as human shields in its fight against Israel.
Hamas leaders have proven over the years that they do not really care about the two million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Most of the group’s political leaders left the Gaza Strip together with their families several years ago.
They have since been living comfortably in Qatar, Turkey, Lebanon, and other countries. The New York Post reported on November 7, 2023:
“While their people languish in poverty and are treated as human shields, the leaders of Hamas live billionaire lifestyles.
“The terror group’s three top leaders alone are worth a staggering total of $11 billion and enjoy a life of luxury in the sanctuary of the emirate of Qatar.”
Hamas wants the US and other countries to invest billions of dollars in rebuilding the Gaza Strip. The group, however, is not prepared to cede control of the coastal enclave. It plans to maintain its rule over the Gaza Strip so that it can pursue its Jihad against Israel.
As senior Hamas official Ghazi Hamad vowed shortly after the October 7 massacre:
“We must teach Israel a lesson, and we will do this again and again. The Al-Aqsa Flood [the name Hamas gave to the attack on Israel] is just the first time, and there will be a second, a third, a fourth, because we have the determination, the resolve, and the capabilities to fight.”
Should the Trump administration proceed with its Gaza plan, the same Hamas that attacked Israel on October 7, 2023 is also capable of targeting US interests and personnel in the Middle East and beyond.
Hamas is likely to be joined by Iran’s other proxies, including Lebanon’s Hezbollah and the Houthis in Yemen.
For the Trump plan to succeed, the US must insist on the removal of Hamas from power and the disarming of all the terror groups in the Gaza Strip.
It will take several years to rebuild the Gaza Strip and make it habitable once again. The Trump administration will be gone by then. The biggest fear is that a future US administration will fail to block the return of terrorists to the rebuilt Gaza Strip.
If that happens, it will be a matter of time before the Gaza Strip once again becomes a large base for jihadists not only from Hamas, but other Islamist terror groups for whom Israel and the US are the Number 1 target.
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