From the Battle of Badr to Military Defeat: Changes in Hamas Perceptions of the Gaza War

The great suffering Hamas has inflicted on the Gaza Strip has put it in the position where it must now explain to the Palestinian public why it started the war in the first place, why it did not expect a massive military response from Israel to its atrocities and attempt at genocide, and why the suffering of the Palestinians of the Gaza Strip is not in vain. [...] On October 7 and throughout the waiting period until the beginning of the ground operation in which the IDF forces entered Gaza, many comparisons were made between the success of Hamas on October 7 and the famous Battle of Badr. [...] It reminds the people of the entire [Islamic] nation of the battles of the Muslims, the great [battles] of Badr and Al-Khandaq [the battle of the trench in 627 AD in which Medina was attacked by the people of Mecca, other Arab tribes, and Jews who had 3 joined them. [...] Muhammad al-Hindi (a well-known activist and a leader of the Islamic Jihad) entitled "The dissolution of the Zionist entity in light of the change in the balance of power." Al-Hindi recognizes that most of Gaza has been occupied, the stronghold of the resistance has fallen, and Gaza has fallen into a humanitarian crisis (because, in his view, of an allegedly brutal occupation). [...] But he encourages his readers with the following: There are those who wonder about the future of the Palestinian cause and the future of the resistance in Palestine after the loss of the resistance stronghold in Gaza.