After suffering a painful and irreparable military, security and intelligence blow on October 7, 2023, the Zionist regime put committing crimes and genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip on its agenda. Given that the security and intelligence superiority of the Zionists, which was always a source of pride for them, was completely shattered during the October 7 operation, Israeli rulers adopted another strategy – in addition to the genocide of Palestinian women and children in Gaza – which is the strategy of “targeted assassination” of leaders of the resistance front. More than a year has passed after Operation Al-Aqsa Storm was launched, and the Zionists have martyred several leaders and commanders of the resistance front. In addition, they have committed unprecedented crimes against the resistance society in order to separate them from the resistance – from imposing a tight siege against different areas of Gaza, especially its north, to the pager attack in Lebanon.
It is obvious that the Zionist regime has been trying to achieve an essential goal through this policy, and that is to bring the resistance to its knees. This point is clearly evident in the comments of the Zionist regime’s war minister Yoav Gallant after the heroic martyrdom of Yahya Sinwar, the late leader of the Islamic resistance movement Hamas. Gallant, ecstatic over Sinwar’s martyrdom – who was martyred on the battlefield in a man vs. tank fight – arrogantly said to the fighters of the Palestinian resistance: “Raise your hands, surrender. Go out with the hostages, free them, and surrender.” The tone and language of this war criminal in the aftermath of the martyrdom of the head of the political bureau of the Hamas movement conveys only one message from the Zionists, and that is that with the assassination of the leaders and commanders of the Hamas resistance movement, the group is finished. But why is making Hamas surrender and bringing it to its knees nothing more than a delusional thought by the Zionists?
An organizational structure independent of individuals
The Zionists’ attempt to indicate that they are getting closer to one of their war goals, i.e. bringing Hamas to its knees and making it surrender, comes while this resistance group has a coherent organizational structure – a structure that does not depend on individuals in a way that it collapses with their absence. This is the same problem that political analyst Fuad al-Khafsh refers to.
He says: “The strength of the Islamic resistance movement Hamas lies in its coherent organizational structure. This structure relies on itself, not on individuals.” This political analyst further argues that this is the case with the consequences of Yahya Sinwar’s martyrdom on the continuation of the path of Hamas, saying: “A structure that does not rely on individuals will naturally continue its path after Sinwar’s martyrdom. We must not forget that this organizational structure is several decades old and its coherence is due to the passing of this long period of existence. The persistence of a group like Hamas over several decades despite the assassination of its leaders and commanders is rooted in its structural coherence.” Khafsh then points to the martyrdom of some of the commanders of Hamas, saying: “If we look at the history of the Hamas movement, we see the martyrdom of leaders such as Sheikh Ahmed Yassin and Abdel Aziz al-Rantisi. Yet since then, not only has Hamas not been weakened, but it has also become stronger.”
Invulnerability of resistance in shadow of partisan, attritional warfare
“Despite the assassination of Palestinian resistance leaders and commanders, the fire of resistance continues to blaze and does not die down.” This is an expression that political researcher Saeed Ziyad has used regarding the situation of Hamas after Sinwar’s assassination. He believes that the current strength and solidity of Hamas show that the assassination of the commanders will not extinguish the flame of the resistance. Of course, this political researcher also refers to the fighting style of the Palestinian resistance as another factor that makes it invulnerable after Sinwar’s martyrdom. He emphasizes that the Palestinian resistance, especially Hamas, has long entered the phase of “partisan and attritional warfare” against the Zionist enemy, and this war arrangement is not going to be disrupted by the loss of commanders.
Assassination does not kill ideas
Perhaps the Zionists themselves know well that the strategy of “physically removing” the leaders and commanders of the resistance cannot be effective in eradicating the thought that has taken root in the minds, hearts and souls. Nevertheless, perhaps out of desperation, they have no choice but to continue the policy of “assassination” as one of the components of their “dirty war” against the resistance. Former Deputy Secretary-General of the Egyptian National Defense Council Ibrahim Othman Hilal says: “Through assassination, intelligence collecting, psychological warfare, aerial and artillery firepower, special ground forces, etc., the occupiers are trying to deprive Hamas of thought, initiative and organizational cohesion. This is while the assassination of Hamas leaders and commanders cannot be considered a military achievement for Israel. As long as there are people to think, organize and lead, the resistance cannot be ended through the assassination of its leaders and commanders.”
Lessons never learned by Zionists
The behaviors and actions of the Zionist regime in “targeted assassinations” of resistance leaders and commanders show that the Zionists have not learned their lessons from past events. As evidenced by historical events, the Zionists suffered a defeat in what they thought to be a victory. For example, the Zionist regime felt victorious in 1982 when it besieged Beirut and prompted the Palestinian Liberation Organization fighters to relocate from Lebanon to Tunisia, but this delusional feeling never brought the regime security, because it was after this event that Lebanon’s Hezbollah was formed as a resistance group and became a constant cause of depriving the Zionists of security and peace. The second instance is the siege and destruction of the Jenin camp during the second intifada in 2000. Despite the implementation of this violent and brutal policy in Jenin, we now see that after a few years, Jenin has become the main base of resistance fighters in the West Bank. Hence, the assassination of Hamas leaders cannot bring victory for the Israelis, as the assassination of Izz ad-Din al-Qassam, Abu Jihad, Abu Ali Mustafa, Ahmed Yassin, Abdel Aziz al-Rantisi, Saleh al-Arouri, and Ismail Haniyeh did not destroy Hamas.
Experts and observers of political developments believe that the Zionist regime might be able to achieve a temporary and transitory tactical victory by assassinating the leaders and commanders of the Palestinian resistance, but in the end, it will be defeated in strategy. Lebanese expert and analyst Zeinab Al-Tahan has made this point, saying: “Hamas continues to exist after the assassination of leaders such as Sheikh Ahmed Yassin and Ismail Haniyeh, and this has only one meaning: Although the Zionists were able to achieve a temporary tactical achievement by assassinating the commanders, they suffered a strategic defeat.”
When we put all the mentioned factors on Hamas’s situation after the assassination of its leaders together, we come to realize why the Leader of the Islamic Revolution said: “Hamas is alive and will stay alive.”
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