Once Again: What Can Be Done to Save Our National Fate?

Author: جمال زقوت

No one can argue that what the resistance forces, led by Hamas, seek to establish in any ceasefire agreement, whether temporary or permanent, does not represent issues surplus to national necessity or non-national issues that stem from abstract factional considerations. The demands of the resistance theoretically enjoy national and popular consensus, chief among them the cessation of the genocidal crimes being inflicted upon our people in the Gaza Strip in all their forms, which not only include military extermination by fire but perhaps the more serious threat of turning the siege into a genocidal starvation that affects all segments of society, especially the most vulnerable among them: children, women, and the elderly, who have begun to fall one after another daily, in numbers that could reach the thousands, if not tens or even hundreds of thousands.

It has become clear that the strategic aim behind this mass extermination lies in a gradual ethnic cleansing scheme, and there is no such thing as "voluntary displacement" in times of war and genocide, as Netanyahu pretends. This perhaps explains the nature of the comprehensive structural destruction, not only of homes and sources of livelihood and life but of all sectors of infrastructure necessary for the minimum means of survival. Israel's insistence on maintaining control over the Philadelphi route, or not withdrawing from pivotal areas in the Strip, along with its adherence to what it calls "humanitarian cities," which in reality are extermination and ethnic cleansing camps, comes in the context of solidifying its direct military capacity to carry out the mass displacement of our people. The term "cleansing" mentioned by Trump did not come by chance; it transcends tactical threats to reveal long-term intentions prepared for the Palestinian people and their national cause.

The real question now goes beyond the justice of these demands, which, as mentioned, enjoy popular consensus, and does not solely rest on the nature of the hidden intentions of Washington and Tel Aviv, but rather reflects, in light of the precise knowledge of the nature of the massacre targeting the people and their national fate, on what can be done to prevent the realization of what the rulers of Tel Aviv aspire to, even if this requires making some tactical concessions that do not affect existence and national fate. If these really are the positions of the Palestinian factions, what is preventing a collective agreement on them so that everyone can, each from their own position, assume their national and moral responsibilities to achieve those goals, according to a unified vision, a clear plan, and an official tool assigned for that purpose?

In this context, the saying "whoever brought the donkey up the minaret, let him bring it down"—referring to the responsibility for the events of October 7—cannot be an acceptable excuse for continuing to distance oneself and shirk responsibility. The disparity over the calculations of October 7 can be legitimate and subject to serious debate and objective national review to draw lessons and conclusions, the most important of which is that national consensus on means of struggle is a source of strength and legitimacy for all forms of resistance. Just as the failure of the path of betting on settlement, which has led to disasters, and the persistence in entrenched wrong policies, including individualism and exclusion to the degree that they now threaten the Palestinian identity and its institutions; this also calls for serious review and concrete answers. All of this is not about setting up gallows for anyone but rather protecting the national ship from sinking.

Trump and his envoy Yitzhak, who are exchanging roles with Netanyahu and Drimer, throw down the gauntlet in the face of what hope remains for our people, especially in Gaza, aiming to deepen the wound and disintegration of the social fabric, which unfortunately remained hostage to the absurd state of division. They absolve some among us of the rulers of Tel Aviv without scrutinizing the seriousness of that, as if resistance is the cause of genocidal crimes, or responsible for obstructing the reaching of a new agreement after the January agreement was violated. The saying "the bullet chased to the door" has proven to be incorrect, not only because it does not work to strip excuses, but because it has doubled the appetite of the occupying power for expansion, to the point of openly declaring our existence as illegitimate, as if we are a superfluous people, and that there is no way to stabilize the region except by eliminating us, liquidating our rights, and finally destroying our national fate in this land.

It has become evident that the fascist aggression of the rulers of Tel Aviv is escalating without limits as the Palestinian position suffers from weakness. This weakness does not stem from our people’s inability, who have been resisting for over a hundred years, to stand firm, nor from the injustice of their cause which has become a symbol of human justice, nor from the absence of popular solidarity across continents, nor even from the differences in the general political goals of factions, which agree on rejecting occupation and settlement, and insist on freedom and the right of return, self-determination, and complete national independence in a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital on the borders of June 4, 1967.
The essence of this self-weakness lies in division, and the struggle over expiring legitimacy, along with the duality of discourse, which undermines the unity of the social fabric and the overall national capacity to curb aggressive fascism. The continuation of this weakness now threatens the ability to preserve the enormous sacrifices made by our people, and dissipates the possibility of converting them into political achievements that serve national interests and supreme national goals; which urges everyone the necessity of rising to the level of this critical moment and adhering to the broad popular will to tackle this dilemma, which has become like cancerous sores threatening our lives and the future of our cause.

For some, talking about this issue has become like nauseous chatter, or as if the division has become an incurable epidemic, without those who propagate this discourse presenting an alternative or a new and serious rescue path. But if the goal is to restore national unity while respecting and preserving plurality and the democratic foundations upon which the political system is built, through elected national institutions, then this is a lofty goal, but, realistically, it requires agreeing on a comprehensive transitional plan and frameworks, according to urgent priorities that cannot withstand maneuvering. The absence of national unity has now become a reason for the continued bleeding of blood and souls in Gaza.
It seems that agreeing on national tools and frameworks based on the Beijing Declaration and the national determinants of a deal to stop the genocide can no longer be postponed or delayed. Both postponement and delay will load everyone with the burden of shedding blood, without exonerating the real criminal. Yet, failing to reach common ground will allow the criminal to attempt to distribute the blood of the victims among factions.

Finally, although it is no longer clear what the fate of reaching a transitional deal is, the main dilemma that the rulers of Tel Aviv will continue to use as a pretext is what they call "the day after," which all Palestinian factions previously answered in Beijing over a year ago; however, it remained trapped in incorrect calculations.
Did these calculations succeed in stopping the genocide? Does Hamas's political leadership recognize that the key to the solution is now hanging on the courage of the decision to urgently transfer the negotiations file and the entire scene to a national unity government that bears the responsibility for the Gaza file and is capable of linking it to the national file with the mandate of all Palestinians? Does the authority realize that this is the only available option to save the people and the national fate together? After everyone has understood that we are in the same cart of extermination, displacement, and liquidation?
Is it now time for a united stand against the seriousness of this moment?
Otherwise, we will continue to bleed blood and rights.