Hamas Has Lost the Battle of Public Opinion in Gaza

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu came and went from Washington, and hopes were dashed that a ceasefire with Hamas might be achieved during, or soon after, his visit. Hamas has been hallucinating, believing that it can hold on to its maximalist demands and that Netanyahu, pressured by a domestic movement that wants the hostages “home now,” and, to a lesser extent, by President Trump, will eventually give in. British Colonel Richard Kemp summarizes the current state of negotiations here: “Those demanding a ceasefire know nothing about the evil of Hamas,” by Richard Kemp, Telegraph, July 13, 2025:

Despite predictions, a ceasefire in Gaza was not agreed while Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, was in Washington. The reason is clear: Hamas is making demands that Israel cannot possibly accept. This from a terrorist organisation that has been ripped apart in 20 months of fighting, having recently witnessed its primary sponsor, Iran, humbled to the point

So what makes Hamas think it still has the muscle to dictate terms to the side that is so obviously winning the fight? It knows it is no longer popular among the citizens of Gaza. There have been some protests that were brutally smashed down….

One thing that Colonel Kemp does not mention is the terrific pressure on Netanyahu from the Israelis themselves, a majority of whom want a ceasefire now, so that the hostages can be released without further delay, and who may be willing to accept terms, such as leaving a disarmed Hamas as a political group in Gaza, that the Prime Minister is not.

The dreadful truth is that Hamas gets greater encouragement to continue fighting from widespread support in the West and the misguided and unjust condemnation of Israel from many political leaders and international institutions. How often do we hear people such as Keir Starmer demanding Israel stops fighting yet never making any demand on Hamas?

The same is true of attitudes to the GHF [Gaza Humanitarian Foundation]. Starmer has also condemned them, as has the UN Secretary General, both speaking in unison with Hamas. And of course it is received wisdom in the West that the population must in no circumstances leave Gaza. Yet that would be the most humane option and should have happened long ago.

The GHF has so far served 60 million meals to Gazans. It has done so without letting any of that food aid be seized by Hamas, as the terror group used to do in order both to supply its own members with much more than their proper share, and to have another large portion to sell back to the Gazans who were supposed to have been given that food for free. Yet much of the world, instead of hailing GHF’s achievement, has blamed the GHF for every casualty among those waiting, or running, to be fed, casualties who we now know have mainly been the result of fire from Hamas members trying to ruin the GHF’s distribution effort.

Colonel Kemp testifies that he spoke to about one hundred Gazans, all of them vocal in their fury at Hamas, which has brought ruin to so much of the Strip. Hamas has lost the battle of public opinion in Gaza. In fact, Hamas has more defenders at the UN, including Francesca Albanese and Antonio Guterres, and on American campuses, than it does inside Gaza. It has been openly challenged by several of the major clans, including the most powerful of them, the Bedouins of Abu Shabab. Their leader, Yasser Abu Shabab, controls most of eastern Rafah. He was given ten days by Hamas to lay down his arms and turn himself in to them. He’s ignored the threat, the deadline has passed, and Hamas has not made a move to arrest him. Hamas continues to think it can wait out Netanyahu, until the pressure from the Israeli public to get the hostages home forces him to make concessions, but it is Hamas that has lost control of almost all of Gaza, not only from the daily attacks from the IDF, especially in northern Gaza, but also from the clans that challenge its rule in the south, and from the people of Gaza who, as Colonel Kemp testifies, want the group out of their lives. Hamas has lost control of almost all of Gaza and no longer can raise money by selling humanitarian aid. And Trump has decided not to pressure Netanyahu to make a deal, as Hamas, aware that the President wants to be known as a peacemaker, had hoped would happen. How much longer can Hamas hold out?