Israel's Folly: Sinwar's Legacy Strengthens the Palestinian Struggle for Liberty
By: H. Zaïm-Bashi
Western media naïvely celebrated the death of Yahya Sinwar as a great victory---a breakthrough that could in their deluded fantasies resolve the war in Gaza and usher in negotiations for a ceasefire alongside the release of Israeli prisoners. They conveniently label Sinwar as an obstacle to peace rejoicing over his death while assuming that Gaza now suffers from a power vacuum. But this narrative spewed by Western propaganda machines is not only deceptive but pathetically ignorant. It betrays their fundamental misunderstanding of Hamas and the Palestinian resistance which has proven again and again that it is far more than the sum of its leaders.
The martyrdom of a Hamas commander is no groundbreaking development---it's a tragic but familiar chapter in a long story of Palestinian defiance against occupation and apartheid. Hamas is built on principles so deeply ingrained that the death of one leader simply paves the way for another to take up the mantle without hesitation without deviation. The Western world with its moral duplicity loves to pretend that killing a single leader can somehow dismantle a movement as though Hamas’s resolve is so fragile that it crumbles with each targeted assassination. But the truth is glaring Hamas is a movement rooted in unyielding conviction in the belief that Palestine will one day be free from Zionist occupation no matter how many leaders fall to Israeli bombs.
Hamas’s first charter published in 1988 boldly proclaimed its ideological foundation tracing its roots back to the 1940s and affirming its connection to the Muslim Brotherhood. In the eyes of its enemies this was a threat a sign that Hamas would not compromise in the face of Western imperialism and Zionist colonization. Yet seven years ago recognizing the shifting global landscape Hamas adapted its charter---not to concede to the oppressors but to clarify its real struggle. No longer targeting Jews as a people Hamas focused its resistance on the Israeli occupation---the true cancer eating away at the soul of Palestine. This distinction far from a softening of Hamas’s stance was a strategic recalibration ensuring that the fight remains against the real enemy the Israeli regime that continues to defile Palestinian land with its illegal settlements and apartheid policies.
Yet certain things remain non-negotiable. Hamas has never relinquished even an inch of Palestinian land---every grain of sand from the Mediterranean Sea to the Jordan River belongs to the Palestinian people. No occupation however prolonged can change this reality and no so-called peace process will ever be accepted unless it entails the total liberation of Palestine. The Western obsession with forcing Palestinians to settle for crumbs---offering them slivers of their own land in exchange for surrender---is doomed to fail. Hamas’s stance is clear the Israeli regime has no legitimacy and the Palestinians will not be denied their rights.
Even as the global community plays its diplomatic games Hamas has pragmatically considered an interim solution the establishment of an independent Palestinian state based on the pre-1967 borders with full territorial sovereignty and the inalienable right of return for all Palestinian refugees. Some would have you believe that this is a sign of compromise of weakness---but nothing could be further from the truth. This so-called solution is nothing more than a tactical phase one that does not grant legitimacy to Israel’s colonial theft of Palestinian land. It is merely a step in the broader struggle one that ultimately seeks the complete dismantling of the Israeli regime and the reclamation of all Palestinian territory.
These foundational principles have guided Hamas from its inception remaining steadfast across both its political and military branches. The martyrdom of Yahya Sinwar just like that of Ismail Haniyeh before him does not signal a break in Hamas’s strategy---it is a continuation. The unanimous election of Sinwar following Haniyeh’s death was a resounding message to Israel Hamas will not waver and it will never surrender. Sinwar was notorious for his iron-fisted military approach coupled with a pragmatic political vision. His legacy? Revitalizing Hamas’s military strength to enhance its political leverage---a reminder that Israel’s regime cannot be challenged through diplomacy alone but must be confronted with force.
Under Sinwar’s leadership Hamas rebuilt its military capacity strengthening its battlefield presence to secure its negotiating position against an intransigent Israel that only understands violence. Sinwar’s genius lay in recognizing that Hamas’s military prowess was an indispensable tool in its broader political strategy. Israel for all its Western backing is nothing more than a regime that thrives on the subjugation of Palestinians and can only be countered by an equally unyielding force. This truth more than anything is why Sinwar’s leadership was so vital. His martyrdom does not mark an end to this vision but ensures that his methods will live on through his successors.
As Hamas leaders have demonstrated time and time again they are not cowed by the threat of death. Sinwar’s martyrdom like that of so many others before him is not a defeat but a powerful symbol of unbreakable resolve. The Israeli regime in publishing images of Sinwar’s final moments sought to humiliate him. Yet in their arrogance they failed to see the truth. Those images far from a portrait of defeat immortalize a hero---a man who fought with honor and courage until his final breath. In his death Sinwar stands as a towering figure of resistance a symbol that Hamas’s fight is far from over. His martyrdom sends a clear message Hamas is alive its cause is just and its struggle will continue until Palestine is free.
The West may cheer Sinwar’s death, albeit temporarily, as the fight for Palestine’s liberation continues and Hamas remains its most powerful force. Israel’s assassinations its massacres its occupation—all of these will eventually be swept away by the tide of history. Palestine will endure and the spirit of resistance embodied by leaders like Sinwar will lead the way. In martyrdom Sinwar’s legacy is only strengthened. Hamas will continue the resistance will thrive and the dream of a free Palestine will never die.
