‘Hamas and Its Two Million Hostages’
This column contains some of the most astounding, jaw-dropping political view points on the Israel-Hamas War I have read since the beginning of the conflict.
The opinions are not so much startling because of what is said, but they are astonishing and stupefying because of the source.
A brief quiz. Who said the following? You don’t have to guess by name; we’ll accept identification by politics, profession or other demographics.
“Hamas is a moral stain on the Palestinian cause…”
“Hamas used two million Gazans as hostages in its nihilistic Jihadi adventurism.”
“Only when Hamas is no longer in control of Gaza can the violence end and the future begin.”
Nope, it isn’t Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or a member of his administration. It isn’t even an Israeli. No, it isn’t Trump or one of his people or an American pro-Israel politician or a non-public officeholder who supports Israel.
They come from a Palestinian Muslim writer who grew up in Gaza. But that’s not all which make the remarks “unusual.” The writer is a man who lost 33 of his immediate and extended family members and two homes in Israeli attacks. Fourteen of his relatives were under the age of nine and many adults were over 60. At age 11 in 2001, an Israeli airstrike killed three of his friends and left him with permanent hearing loss in his left ear.
(Born in Saudi Arabia, his family moved to Gaza in 2000 but left the Strip for the United States when he was 15. Later, he tried to return but immigration issues prevented him from doing so.)
He is Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib, 36, founder of the Washington, D.C.-based Atlantic Council’s Realign for Palestine Project which “aims to amplify voices who courageously advocate for Palestinian statehood and self-determination, unequivocally reject violence, terrorism and extremism and acknowledge a two-state solution, including Israel’s right to exist in safety.”
No, Alkhatib does not give Israel a pass; he does accuse it of committing some war crimes but explains: “No matter the level of malicious intent on the part of Israeli leaders, there comes a point at which Palestinian accountability and responsibility are inescapable, especially, because rights come with responsibilities.”
Despite suffering unimaginable tragedies, with his project he is pursuing a path which he hopes will lead to peace for Palestinians and Israelis alike –- perhaps in five or ten years.
The comments above and others below come from a 90-page essay/book entitled, “Hamas and Its Two Million Hostages,” published in the July 2026 issue of The Jewish Quarterly. (It is available from Amazon). He also has been published in such publications as The Atlantic, Foreign Affairs, Newsweek, The Forward, The Wall Street Journal, the New York Times and other prestigious international media outlets.
Here is more of his criticism aimed at Hamas:
“Those who genuinely support our national aspirations should have found it entirely unproblematic to condemn the group’s murder and rapes, its firing of rockets at civilians, and its Islamist ideology.”
“The failure to call out Hamas weakened genuine pro-Palestinian advocacy.”
“…activists in the Western became drunk on the worst possible combination of extremism, oversimplification and maximalism. This toxic mix has been harmful to the lives and liberty of Palestinians and to the cause of the Palestinians people.”
He discusses, at great length, Hamas’ strategy of using civilians as shields. He quotes a Hamas leader, Fathi Hamad, as stating, that Hamas would encourage Israeli strikes on civilian areas to promote “empathy towards us.” Hamas succeeded well beyond its dreams.
Once, he writes, when Israel issued advance notice of upcoming attacks on homes harboring combatants, Hamas placed dozens of women and children on rooftops, making them potential targets. Israel called off the raids. Genocide?
He says Hamas exploited Gaza’s extreme population density in its efforts to provoke international outrage against Israel and “human shields on rooftops tactic formed part of a grim strategic calculation based on high numbers of civilian casualties and the gruesome deaths of Gazans.
” The failure to call out Hamas weakened genuine pro-Palestine advocacy, which by default became associated with celebrating of October 7, finding excuses for Hamas’ heinous acts of terror, refusal to humanize Israeli victims of the attacks…and the abandonment of political aims that are actually achievable.
“Instead, a form of mass psychosis took hold of activists, academics, journalists, advocates, politicians, and average individuals, all blinded by Hamas’ criminality against both Gazans and Israelis.
“A significant number of international NGOs, non-profits, journalists, activists, academics and think tanks, overlooked Hamas’ crimes against the Palestinian people and its detrimental impact on the Palestinians project to keep the focus on Israel.”
He says that his father, and two brothers were medical and humanitarian workers in the Strip, and through their works he gained “insights into Hamas’ corruption, thefts, abuses of civilian infrastructure and horrible mistreatment of Palestinians.”
He accuses the UN and countless NGOs and charities of funneling money into Gaza “that ended up enriching Hamas.”
He also writes that Hamas worked to control the media, stating “…[T]he terror group made sure that there was no adequate reporting of its own activities, not least its conduct that deliberately risked civilian lives…”
He blames Al Jazeera, particularly: “Hamas would not be what it is today without Al Jazeera which promoted [Hamas’] narrative and agenda.” The same, unfortunately, can be said about much, if not all, of the media.
“Hamas gained the support of hundreds of millions of people around the world in the guise of a supposedly legitimate resistance movement.”
A “sick form of human sacrifice” that resulted in the unnecessary deaths of tens of thousands of Palestinians, was described, he says, by a Hamas leader as “tactical losses.”
He writes that he has been “ferociously” anti-Hamas, and “so I have firmly opposed vocal elements of the Western-based pro-Palestine camp that often justifies violence, promotes hate and refuses to endorse any rational discourse or pragmatic solution that could actually help the people of Gaza.”
This is all very hard to digest and process. I read the essay several times and marveled at Alkhatib’s ability to maintain such a focus, particularly in light of his inconceivable losses.
If only there was a way of making the essay required reading for all those covering the conflict, particularly critics of Israel in the media –- which means just about everyone in the media.
I could not find one story or review on the book in the mainstream media. Which reminds us that the most effective means to slant news is not by what is published but by what is ignored.
