From the Deception of the Gaza Siege to the Deception of Hamas's Weaponry

One of the paradoxes that reaches the level of deception—especially during the rule of Hamas—is the issue of the Gaza blockade; since Hamas captured the Israeli soldier Shalit in 2006, Hamas has filled the world with noise about the siege of Gaza, while in reality, it was seeking to lift the siege on its government and force the countries of the world to recognize its authority in the sector.

It is true that the enemy besieged the sector and controlled the movement of individuals, preventing the entry of essential supplies, particularly in the first four years, where the siege was severe, but after Netanyahu came to power in 2009, the way Israel dealt with Hamas and the Gaza Strip changed, and the siege was significantly eased. Hamas and other factions amassed immense military capabilities in the form of rockets and other munitions, and developed them, as well as built a sophisticated network of tunnels that cost millions of dollars, in addition to constructing hospitals and security institutions of its own, while Qatari funds continued to flow to Hamas, all happening despite the siege and in full view of the occupation.

Hamas did not hide this; it even allowed Al Jazeera to showcase these military capabilities through its program "What Has Been Hidden is Greater," and some of its leaders—Fathi Hamad—claimed that Hamas is one of the most advanced Arab entities in missile manufacturing and could sell them to Arab countries!

Discussions about the Gaza siege during that period overshadowed what was happening in the West Bank and Jerusalem; everyone was preoccupied with Gaza and its siege, while Israel continued its settlement and Judaization projects in the West Bank, where our main battle should have been, thus we lost both the West Bank and Gaza together.

Today, Hamas and Israel distract us with Hamas's weaponry, whereas the goal is not Hamas's weaponry, which has lost its national significance, but rather the continued cover-up of what is happening in the West Bank with the accelerating settlement that threatens the Palestinian presence there, and what is being planned for the Gaza Strip, particularly the displacement and the alteration of the geostrategic and political situation of the sector, pushing it out of its national context, as Hamas is not seeking to maintain its weaponry to resist the occupation or defend the residents of the sector, but to preserve its authority in the sector and secure itself from popular anger.