The Truth About Hamas, October 7th & Israel's Ongoing Genocide | Ash Sarkar Meets Tareq Baconi

Quick Overview

Tareq Baconi argues that Hamas's strategic reasoning, particularly post-Great March of Return, solidified the belief that engagement with Israel only yields results through force, as unarmed resistance and negotiations failed to alleviate the Gaza blockade, leading to the October 7th operation being a calculated move within a context of ongoing conflict management rather than simple irrational brutality.

Key Points: Hamas's strategic calculation concluded that engagement with Israel requires force because unarmed resistance and negotiations failed to alleviate the blockade, stating, "there's no way to engage with Israel that isn't through force." Hamas originated from the Muslim Brotherhood in Palestine, which focused on 'Islamization' and social welfare for four decades before Hamas formed in 1987, contrasting with the PLO's shift towards recognizing Israel. Israel historically benefited from Hamas's existence through 'divide and rule tactics' against secular forces and later used Hamas as a 'perfect fig leaf' to retroactively justify the Gaza blockade. Hamas's military strategy evolved, incorporating suicide bombings after its exiled leadership made ties with Hezbollah in South Lebanon, a tactic that required specific capabilities for mobility that other methods lacked. The 'Balance of Terror' doctrine during the Second Intifada aimed for retaliation: "for every civilian that is killed by Israelis we are going to to kill Israeli civilians," intending to compel Israeli society to pressure its leadership. Hamas entered the 2006 elections not to legitimate Oslo, but to revolutionize the political system as a party committed to resistance, leveraging Fatah's perceived corruption and disconnection from the street. The Great March of Return (2018) was an organic, non-Hamas-led mobilization demanding return; Hamas ultimately engaged with rocket fire only after Palestinians were being killed with little international coverage, a moment Baconi views as a precursor to 2023.