Monday 27 January 2025
On Saturday the second exchange of prisoners took place between Israel and Hamas: 200 Palestinians for four female Israeli soldiers who had been assigned to watch over the Gaza strip and were captured on 7 October 2023. The Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades handed these soldiers over to a representative of the International Red Cross (ICRC) in a grandiose ceremony. This show was mainly meant to convey several messages to the Israeli public and power structure. First there was a video, shot just before the ceremony itself, in which the prisoners, speaking Arabic, thanked the al-Qassam brigades for having protected them from bombardment by their own army; a way of showing that Israel cared nothing for the lives of its own citizens. Of course we all know how far to trust the statements of prisoners under duress. Still, the images did prove that the soldiers were alive and apparently in good health. And then the choice to stage this show on Palestine Square in the centre of Gaza City was highly symbolic, if only for the name of the square. Hamas had set up a big podium with the logos of the al-Qassam brigades and slogans in Hebrew, asserting for example that Zionism wouldn’t win, along with portraits of Israeli military commanders.
The square was secured by compact rows of Brigade fighters, their faces hidden with black balaclavas and wearing green headbands. Hamas was making clear that it intended to go on governing Gaza. The Israeli soldiers ascended the podium , surrounded by fighters, each armed with a Tavor, the latest model of assault rifle equipping Israel’s elite troops, probably seized during the 7 October attack on the border posts.
Hamas claims victory
The message was clear : “We’re still here, a lot stronger than they’re trying to make you believe; we have your weapons, and we have your soldiers.” In another cheeky wink at the enemy, each of these women wore a brand new Israeli-style uniform, probably confected in Hamas’ underground workshops. Translation: we even have the means to return your captives to you decently dressed, contrary to the way you treat your Palestinian prisoners. However, these uniforms had a few local trimmings: a pendant showing a map of the whole of Palestine, and a bracelet in the colours of the Palestine flag. Some Israeli media falsified these objects, replacing the Palestinian flags with Israeli ones.
So Hamas is claiming victory. But who has won this war ? From an Israeli viewpoint, it is hard to call it a success. Netanyahu did not achieve his professed objectives: free all the Israeli prisoners and eradicate Hamas. The latter appeared in broad daylight as soon as the ceasefire became effective, with its fighters in khaki uniforms and its police officers in blue. The government and the administration issued a press release announcing they were going back to work. The military wing is still active despite the death of numerous commanders. Many young activists have been trained to join the Ezzedine al-Qassam brigades to replace the fighters fallen in battle.
As for the hostages... From the very first day, the head of Hamas in Gaza, Khalil al-Hayya, declared that no prisoners would be released without a ceasefire agreement and an exchange with imprisoned Palestinians; and that is exactly what took place. So Netanyahu has lost and it is my conviction that he will soon be finished politically. He is like a vampire who has to feed on blood. If the blood stops flowing, his political career will be over.
But the Israelis also had an undeclared objective: to finish what they hadn’t achieved in 1948. They haven’t yet been able to expel the 2.3 million inhabitants of the Gaza strip but they have managed to make it uninhabitable. The fact is that 85 % of the population is homeless. There is no life left in Gaza. No universities, no schools, no kindergartens, no hospitals, no infrastructure of any kind, no highways, no drinking water, no sewer systems, no electricity. Even if it is all rebuilt swiftly and flexibly, it will take years and years. We are in a period of non-life. And I believe that the price we paid for the liberation of Palestinian prisoners was very high. Each side believes they have won. But let me tell you that the great loser is the people of Gaza and Palestine in general.
They sold everything they had to make this trip
A million and a half Gazans want to go home. They’ve spent fifteen months in horrible conditions, in a tent or with just a tarpaulin over their heads, in the cold or the heat or the rain, suffering from malnutrition, bombed over and over again. The route back home to the north was meant to be open on Saturday. Hundreds of thousands of people made their way towards the Netzarim corridor, that no man’s land cutting the Gaza strip in half. Many had sold everything they owned to make this journey. They’d taken down their tents and their tarps. But they no longer had anywhere to come back to. They spent the night in the open, in the cold on the coastal highway. Others slept in their cars on the Salah al-Din Road. Thousands of cars were locked in a huge traffic jam. The Israelis opened fire. Two people were killed. Everyone wanted to get there first. Because they all knew there wouldn’t be much room to set up their tents among the ruins.
That lasted two days and two nights. And then, on the night of Sunday to Monday, an arrangement was reached between Israel and Hamas for the return of these displaced persons. Pedestrians would be allowed through at 7am and vehicles on the Salah al-Din road at 9am. This third night was a sleepless one for the waiting crowd. And one of celebration. Thousands of people singing. At 6:30am, a great crowd of pedestrians started crossing the Netzarim corridor, seven kilometres wide. Men, women, children, the old and the sick, people on crutches or in wheelchairs. Most had come 25 or 30 kilometres on foot from Rafah, Khan Younis or Deir el-Balah.
There were smiles on their tired faces, but sadness in their hearts. Coming home is a little victory, but for them it was a big one. Yet they knew a very hard life lay ahead. A non-life. And with death an ever-present possibility. Many of those going home were hoping to find their dead under the ruins of their houses. Behind each of those faces lay a particular history.
A normal life, nothing more
At that very moment, Trump was declaring that he would ask Egypt and Jordan to accept two million Palestinians to “clean out” Gaza in order to “improve” it. For the Israelis, of course, not for the Palestinians. Or more precisely for the Israeli settlers who will replace us. That is Israel’s real war aim. Trump has begun with Egypt and Jordan but he’s certainly going to put pressure on other countries. He wants to settle the Palestinian question his way, not with a war but with a “humanitarian” solution.
Above all, unfortunately, the people of Gaza are so exhausted, so miserable and so humiliated, that the vast majority of them, especially young people, want to leave Gaza to have a better life, a better future for their studies, for their children, for their families, to have the conditions of a simple life that is no longer possible in Gaza. I’m not talking about prosperity or career opportunities, but about having electricity at the flick of a switch, hot water when you turn on a tap, and enough to eat. Just a normal life, nothing more. However, there will always be people who want to stay in Gaza, because they know that the future lies in Palestine. Hopefully, our children will have a better life, but in Palestine. I don’t know how long people will put up with this non-life and resist the temptation to emigrate. But I believe there are many of us who remain attached to our land.
Translated by Noël Burch.