Palestinian Articles: Hamas Must Release The Hostages Immediately And Disarm; The Lives Of The Gazans Are More Important Than Its Rule In Gaza

Memri

23-07-2025

In the recent period, the Palestinian Authority (PA) press in the West Bank has been even more vociferous than before in urging Hamas to end the Gaza war by releasing the Israeli hostages and agreeing to disarm and to cede power in Gaza.[1] Many articles in the PA mouthpiece Al-Hayat Al-Jadida and in the daily Al-Ayyam blamed Hamas for the ongoing war and said it was being stubborn and manipulative in the negotiations in order to buy time and maintain its control over the Gaza Strip. Had Hamas agreed to the aforementioned demands in the first months of the war, they argued, many Gazan lives would have been spared and the total destruction of the Strip would have been avoided.
The articles also criticized Hamas's leadership for spreading a false narrative of victory while sitting in Gaza's tunnels or in "seven-star hotels" in Qatar and ignoring the heavy cost in human lives and the suffering of the Gazan people. Since the October 7 attack, they said, which was an "act of collective suicide," Hamas has lost the support of the Gazans, who hold it responsible for their disaster and suffering. Therefore, if Hamas now steps down in favor of the PA this will not be a Palestinian defeat but rather a victory for the Palestinian people and their desire to live.
The following are translated excerpts from several of these articles.
PA Daily: Every Hour Hamas Refrains From Stepping Down Means More Destruction, Hunger, Victims And Martyrs
An editorial published in the PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida on June 23, 2025, during the war between Israel and Iran, called on Hamas to release all the hostages and cede power in Gaza, stressing that the movement's insistence on continuing the war was insupportable.
The editorial said: "Hamas must hurry up and hand over the hostages immediately, and explicitly declare it is ceding power in the Gaza Strip… What more has to happen before it takes a step in the direction of reason and realism? From now on, Hamas's populist rejectionism and flowery speeches will no longer help it reach negotiations in hopes of achieving some of its ambitions as a ruling [force]. The situation after the Israel-Iran war will not be the same as the situation before it…
"Hamas [must] make a clear declaration about [releasing] the hostages and about the day after [the war] in the wounded [Gaza] Strip, which will be marked by a complete absence of [Hamas's] rule there… Every hour it spends waiting today is another hour of destruction, hunger, victims, martyrs and injuries. Will Hamas be wise and stop the clock of this [endless] wait? "[2]
In an earlier editorial, from June 1, 2025, the daily also urged Hamas to release the Israeli hostages and put an end to the war, stressing that the lives of the Gazans "are more precious and important" than Hamas's control over Gaza, which it is so eager to maintain. The editorial said: "Many of those who applauded the [Al-Aqsa] Flood [i.e., Hamas's October 7 attack], which boomeranged against its perpetrators from the very first moment… now urge Hamas to accept the ceasefire proposal of U.S. [Envoy Steve] Witkoff…
"[Oh Hamas], release the hostages you are holding… without any arrogance, verbal tricks or boastful false demands. Accept [Witkoff's] proposal… Release them, oh Hamas leaders. The lives of the people are more precious and important than your control [over Gaza], which you delusionally believe you can still maintain. Release them. There is no longer any flood except for the flood of death and destruction… Release them and step off the stage. This will not be a defeat or a surrender for the Palestinian people, but rather a triumph of its will to live…"[3]
Former PA Minister: The Gazans Hold Hamas Responsible For Their Disaster And Will No Longer Tolerate Its Rule
In his June 4 column in the Palestinian daily Al-Ayyam, Ashraf Al-Ajrami, a former PA minister for prisoner affairs, wrote that Hamas's sole purpose in negotiating today is maintaining its control over the Gaza Strip, in disregard of the fact that Israel will never agree to this: "Twenty months after the October 7 war and [the outbreak of] the war of extermination in Gaza, Hamas's leaders have yet to realize the inevitable consequences of this war. Unfortunately, they continue their manipulations aimed at retaining control of Gaza, believing that the rules of play that applied before October 7 will somehow become relevant again. Hamas is trying to buy as much time as possible, hoping to cause the world to accept the status quo and pressure Israel into accepting a permanent ceasefire with Hamas still [in power].
"[But] in practice, the events of October 7 created an unprecedented reality in Israel, and united the Jewish Israeli society around one [belief] – despite all the contrasts and disputes within it – [namely] that Hamas must not remain in Gaza in any way that allows it to threaten Israel. The meaning of this, as [Israeli Prime Minister] Binyamin Netanyahu has said on more than one occasion, is that the hostages must be released and Hamas must be removed from power and disarmed… Nobody is willing to accept Hamas's [continued] control over Gaza.
"Had Hamas accepted these demands in the first months of the war, the Gazans' suffering would have stopped, their lives would have been saved, and the complete destruction of Gaza would have been avoided… Perhaps the number of fallen martyrs is immaterial to the Hamas leadership, who speaks of them in terms of numbers [and objects] that can be manufactured or produced again,[4] but each [of the fallen] is an entire world… If some force that purports to carry out resistance does not care about the lives and the suffering of the people, its resistance is evil – because ultimately, any resistance or national struggle are meant to defend the people and their rights and afford them a life of dignity, not to treat civilians as fuel for achieving the purposes of some organization or other, in disregard of the national goals that are a matter of national consensus.
"What is Hamas currently pursuing in its negotiations?... In practice, it is negotiating for its own purposes, rather than anything else, because its main [goal] in the negotiations is to end the war while remaining in Gaza, so it can reassume control of it once the occupation army withdraws. Hamas's weapons – which it so eagerly tries to protect –are directed only inward, for this movement will not be able to pose a serious threat to Israel in the foreseeable future…
"[Hamas] has lost the support of the Palestinian people in Gaza, especially of those who can no longer tolerate its existence and hold it primarily responsible for their disaster and their suffering, while this movement, [for its part], ignores the fate of the [Gaza] inhabitants. For this reason, Gaza will no longer tolerate Hamas's rule. Since the day Hamas [first] staged a coup against the legitimate PA [authorities], the Gaza Strip has been under siege… Its people cannot remember even a single good day [under] Hamas's rule, which was established by force. So how can they tolerate it today[?]…
"The Palestinian people need an elected leadership that will express their aspirations and hopes. [But] in order to hold elections, the PA must return to Gaza and reunite the homeland. Every day that passes without this war coming to an end means further bloodshed and a heavy cost [in human lives]. When will Hamas rise [to the occasion], assume its national responsibility and feel the suffering of the people, who are the victims of foolishness and mistaken considerations?"[5]
Former PA Minister: Hamas Leaders Ignore The Gazans' Suffering And Spread A False Narrative Of Victory
In his May 25 column in the Palestinian daily Al-Ayyam, Atef Abu Sayf, a former PA minister of culture, slammed Hamas for its claims of victory and urged it to let the PA assume responsibility for the negotiations to end the war. He wrote: "The war continues month after month, as though it exists just in order to continue… Hamas's [goal] can be summarized in a single sentence: restoring the situation that prevailed before October 7… Hamas's negotiators are [either its leaders abroad, who are living] in seven-star hotels in friendly capitals [such as Doha], or [its leaders in Gaza,] who are underground. Neither [of these groups] sees what is happening in Gaza or hears the sighs and the suffering of its people. Even if they watch tv, they see only one channel [the Qatari Al-Jazeera], which prettifies reality for them and presents it as a blatant victory... That is the essence of the crisis: those negotiating in the name of the [Gazan] people do not see them or notice them…
"Hamas's holding of the hostages, and the Israeli army's failure to reach them, do not in themselves constitute steadfastness [on Hamas's part]… Steadfastness and sacrifice were supposed to prevent the [Israeli] army from entering Gaza, or to stop it and defend the city and its people, not leave them to face death and starvation. There is a false [Hamas] narrative that must be fought forcefully and firmly, without fearing the machine [that spews] accusations of treason or heresy or the attacks of the misguided herd.[6] I don't know how anyone can claim victory after everything that has happened…
"Hamas, who wants to produce new [people to replace] the martyrs…[7] knows that there is only one solution, but rejects it because it is the only national solution, and [Hamas] is clearly uninterested in a nation solution. [The solution] is for its leaders to contact the Muqata'a [the PA headquarters in Ramallah] and ask President Abu Mazen [Mahmoud Abbas] to undertake the Gaza negotiations on behalf of the Palestinian people and all its factions…"[8]
Palestinian Journalist: After October 7, Two Choices Remain – To Sacrifice Hamas Or To Sacrifice The People
In his May 25 column in Al-Ayyam, Palestinian journalist Akram 'Atallah wrote an open letter to the Hamas leadership in which he implored the movement to realize that the October 7 attack was "an act of collective suicide" that has left the Palestinians with two main choices: "to sacrifice Hamas" and thereby save the people, or "to sacrifice the people and its future" in order to save Hamas. Addressing Hamas, he wrote: "…What you did on October 7, [2023] was a very great operation, that for several hours brought down a country that had prided itself on its security, technology and walls. Nevertheless, in all fairness, I am compelled to say that this was a collective act of suicide on the part of the [Hamas] movement.
"It is true that Israel was off balance for several hours, but our people, and all the peoples who support it, cannot accept the consequences of a deed of this magnitude… With this great operation [the October 7 attack], you doomed yourselves to death… The Israelis, with the backing of the Americans and the Europeans, will not allow your [continued] existence as a force, as the ruling power in Gaza, or as an armed [movement]… The war will not stop as long as you remain in Gaza and maintain your weapons…
"The time has come to think in a more realistic manner… An end to the war, and your [continued] existence after [that act of] suicide are two incompatible outcomes. If you don't understand that, the price will be higher than you and your people are able to pay. [The people] asked you to quickly announce the end of your rule in Gaza, but you were convinced that those voices were [just] intended to conspire against you and to remove you from power…
"[Today] we have two options, and I do not see a third: to continue the war on the pretext that you are being persecuted and eliminated, or to commence negotiations about the day after [the war], when you will be absent, based on an understanding of the reality on the ground… What happened on October 7 was a very great event with even greater implications, and it has left Gaza with [only] two options: to sacrifice Hamas or to sacrifice the people and its future. The choice is in your hands…"[9]