Israel- Hamas War: Can Hamas Leader Ismail Haniyeh Channel His Grief Productively?

Watching footage of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh receiving news of his sons' deaths was truly heartbreaking. It's hard not to feel compassion in such a moment.

Some might argue that sympathy is misplaced given he is a terrorist. However, those types of views only perpetuate resentment. Remember, he is human, and despite his actions, he deserves some level of human sympathy—this differentiates us from him.

An Israeli mother, mourning her own son, said during his funeral, the hate must stop.

Mr. Haniyeh, the hate must stop. You have the power to transform your grief into a force for good. Rather than fuelling further violence, now is the time to stop the endless suffering of your people. As the leader, you could end the war by releasing the hostages and instructing your fighters to surrender.

You have the opportunity to negotiate amnesty with Israel in exchange for releasing the hostages and surrendering. There is historical precedent for this; the Palestinian terrorists involved in the Munich massacre who evaded Israeli retribution were eventually granted amnesty by Israel.

It is one hundred percent certain that Hamas will not survive the current Gaza war. You can either persist in the delusion that you can defeat the powerful Israeli military, or you use the opportunity to influence how the story of Hamas ends.

Regardless of international opinion, the Rafah invasion is inevitable. The only way to prevent it is by releasing the hostages and surrendering. I urge you, for the sake of your people, to do the right thing. Thirty-three thousand of them have already died. How many more must die before you acknowledge you are fighting a losing battle?

Use your grief as a catalyst for positive change. The people of Palestine have endured tremendous suffering. You have the power to end their suffering today.

?I truly empathise with your loss. But there are certain lines that the human mind should never cross. On October 7th, the minds of the Hamas fighters you commanded crossed those lines. Remember ten-month-old Kfir Bibas, yes him. He was kidnapped while on his mother’s breast. How do you kidnap a child from his mother’s breast? ?

Don Clericuzio from 'The Last Don,' said the killing must stop.