Despite Israeli voices raising cautious optimism over a potential hostage and ceasefire deal in the Gaza Strip, Hamas again upped its demands following talks in Paris, requesting a permanent ceasefire as well as a complete retreat of Israeli forces.
The question that must be asked is: Which card is Hamas holding that allows them to up their demands?
It is not a coincidence that the negotiating party craving a truce would be the same one that would toughen its stance. The unexpected answer is, that Hamas understands it holds the humanitarian card.
Reports of ever-growing hunger in Gaza are gathering pace. Hamas is attempting to ride this humanitarian wave by creating the false narrative that Gazans are starving and dying as a result.
Who is Yahya Sinwar depending on in the international community?
Hamas’s leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, is betting on international authorities forcefully stopping the IDF’s invasion of Gaza in its tracks after images of starving Gazan children start spreading on social media.
To create this narrative, Hamas is working on multiple fronts. On one hand, it is willing and able to send the United Nations to do its bidding.
Three UN agencies – the WFP, the World Health Organization, and the children’s agency UNICEF – said last week that food and safe water were “incredibly scarce and diseases are rife…resulting in a surge of acute malnutrition” in Gaza, more than four months into the Israel-Hamas war.
On another hand, Sinwar is ensuring that food does not reach the Gazans, for the right picture to be painted across the globe. Sinwar does that by denying his people food.
Hamas’s interest is not for aid packages coming from Jordan, France, and others to reach the hands of Palestinians in Gaza. Photos of children eating do not serve Hamas’s war goal. The terrorist organization knows well that it can put the most pressure on Israel by sharing photos of starving babies.
This pressure has already worked a treat on the United States, and this is the card Hamas is using to allow itself to raise demands over a Gaza ceasefire deal.
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