From the same article: Empty promises or real change?
Hamas has finally woken up to the fact that they are staring down the barrel of complete annihilation, especially after Israel’s recent precision strikes took out key leaders, including Mohammed Sinwar, brother of Yahya Sinwar, who Israel had killed previously. Jerusalem has made it crystal clear it is not stopping until every last Hamas leader is eliminated and the entire military and organizational apparatus is dismantled.
FACED WITH this grim reality, Hamas is desperately trying to spin negotiations and political grandstanding into a lifeline, hoping against hope that something, anything, might shift on the regional or international stage to pull them back from the brink.
Evidently, the terror group knows perfectly well that their October 7 rampage was essentially organizational suicide, not just for themselves, but for all of Gaza. This is the same movement that spent years claiming to be the great defenders of Palestinian interests, only to lead their own people straight into the worst humanitarian catastrophe they have ever seen.
They destroyed Gaza’s infrastructure, and got tens of thousands of civilians killed or displaced. And now, instead of owning up to what they have done, they are cynically using the suffering of ordinary Gazans as bargaining chips in their negotiations with Israel.
Looking at the bigger picture, it is obvious that Hamas’s recent talk about possibly stepping down from leadership of Gaza is really about achieving four main goals: First, they want to win over international opinion by playing the part of the reasonable, compromise-ready political player. Second, they are trying to drag out negotiations for as long as possible to buy time and figure out their next move.
Third, they are scrambling to find some kind of safe haven for their leaders, who are now living with targets on their backs. And fourth, they want to dump the massive responsibility of rebuilding Gaza on someone else’s shoulders while somehow keeping their own political and military power intact.
https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-856868