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The moral bankruptcy of Hamas’ pointless war in Gaza
alestinians inspect the site of an Israeli strike on a house that took place on Monday, in Zawayda in the central Gaza Strip, July 1, 2025.REUTERS | PHOTO
What you need to know:
- This reality leaves only one actor with the immediate power to stop this war: Hamas. If the survival and well-being of Gaza’s Palestinian population are paramount, then the continued resistance amidst this apocalypse is an inexplicable tragedy.
The ongoing conflict in Gaza has brought unimaginable suffering and destruction, prompting a global outcry against Israel’s bombardments of Gaza. While the world rightly focuses on the immense human cost, it is crucial to ask difficult questions, particularly of those who claim to speak for the Palestinian people. If the goal is the well-being of Palestinians, why does Hamas not lay down its arms to prevent further devastation?
Before October 7, 2023, life in Gaza was tough but recognisably normal. Per capita income hovered around $3,000 a year—modest by Western standards, perhaps, but on par with or better than many African nations. Hospitals like Al-Shifa and Nasser were staffed by doctors trained in Europe, offering advanced care. Universities and colleges churned out thousands of engineers, teachers and entrepreneurs filled with ambition. Modern apartment buildings lined Gaza’s bustling streets. Critics called Gaza an “open prison,” yet few developing regions worldwide matched its level of urban development. Gaza was difficult, yes, but a functioning society.
Today, Gaza is hell. The scale of devastation is medieval in proportion, unseen in Europe since WW2. Entire districts are now fields of grey rubble. Fifty-six thousand people are dead. Thousands bear horrific, life-altering injuries. Hospitals – the ones that survived – operate without water, power, and medicines. The beach hotels? Gone. Schools? Closed. Gaza is now a hellhole, a testament to the brutal consequences of modern warfare.
This catastrophe compels us to look beyond moral outrage and confront the logic of war. While the world may condemn the staggering civilian toll, it is naive to expect Israel to stop while it is so close to achieving total victory. Can you imagine demanding the Russians halt at Stalingrad in 1942 or Berlin in 1945 because of the death toll? That’s stupid – this is war. Expecting Israel to stop its offensive before neutralising Hamas ignores the brutal realities of war.
This reality leaves only one actor with the immediate power to stop this war: Hamas. If the survival and well-being of Gaza’s Palestinian population are paramount, then the continued resistance amidst this apocalypse is an inexplicable tragedy.
We must ask those who defend Hamas while lamenting Gaza’s suffering: How many more Gazan graves must be dug before they demand Hamas surrender? 50,000? 100,000? Half a million? I pressed this point relentlessly to a fierce Israel critic, seeking a number where outrage would override ideology. None came. The silence was revealing. It exposed a painful truth: for too many, the real goal isn’t saving Palestinians but defeating Israel. In this pursuit, Palestinian lives are expendable currency. They grieve the dead but defend the war that produces them. With friends like these, who needs enemies?
The logic for Hamas laying down arms is stark. Every rocket launched condemns hundreds more to grief. Disarmament is the simplest path to end the bloodshed and rebuild homes, schools, hospitals, and hope. Continuing guarantees only more funerals and ruins.
Victory for Hamas is a fantasy. There is no realistic path to victory for an armed militia facing one of the world’s most sophisticated militaries. Israel’s resolve is absolute, and the notion that Hamas can return to govern Gaza after this war is a dangerous delusion. Progress demands alternative thinking.
History, thankfully, offers better routes. In Northern Ireland and South Africa, armed groups laid down their weapons when the costs of violence outweighed any hope of conquest. Leaders shifted to political engagement, advocacy and peaceful protest, proving that pragmatism can preserve a people’s cause without obliterating their homeland.
Wars end when one side bows. And laying down one’s weapons doesn’t imply capitulation. Japan surrendered after a nuclear nightmare yet rose to become an economic powerhouse. Germany lost a war and rebuilt itself into a global leader. Egypt ended the fight and used diplomacy to regain Sinai. So, why think that the war in Gaza can only end when Israel is stopped, but not Hamas?
We may harbour deep-seated animosity towards Israel, but we must not allow that animosity to blind us to the cold, hard realities of war. Expecting Israel to back down and show restraint is not just unrealistic—it’s irrational. Why do we expect Israel to show more restraint than Hamas, which purports to fight for Gazans? The Israelis are one of the most formidable adversaries one could face. They are not going to give up their military advantage because people are making noise. I wouldn’t – because wars don’t work like that.
Supporting Hamas’s continued war in Gaza is not courage but moral bankruptcy. We cannot prioritise a hollow “resistance” over the flesh-and-blood people of Gaza being erased day by day. If genuine concern for Palestinians exists, our focus must now shift to demanding accountability from the power that holds the immediate key to stopping the slaughter: Hamas.
We forget history too easily. In Stalingrad, Hitler’s refusal to surrender cost up to 1.2 million lives. No one today blames Stalin for the choices Hitler made. Gaza is terrible – but things can get worse, much worse.
The arguments for Hamas’s surrender are not concessions to Israel, but requirements for Palestinian survival.
