Skip to main content

Why Israel has failed to achieve its objective of vanquishing Hamas despite heavy casualties

By Sandeep Pandey* 
During the 7 October, 2023 attack by Hamas, 1195 Israelis were killed and 251 taken as hostages. There was worldwide condemnation of the ‘terrorist’ attack carried out by Hamas. In response Israel has killed approximately 70,000 Palestinians, which includes about 15,000 missing or presumed dead, close to 60% of whom are women, children and elderly and still continues to kill Palestinians on one pretext or the other.
Before the 2023 war began, 5200 Palestinian prisoners were in Israeli jails or captivity. The numbers increased to 10,000 by November, 2023. There is a category called Administrative Detention which allows Israel to keep Palestinians without any charge or trial indefinitely. Since 1967, 10 lakhs Palestinians have been in Israeli jails, which is 18% of the total Palestinian population. 40% male Palestinian population has been to Israeli jails at some time or other.
Soon after the war began Hamas offered a deal ‘everyone for everyone,’ implying release of all hostages held captive by Hamas in exchange for all prisoners in Israeli jails. In November 2023, Israel released 240 prisoners in exchange for Hamas releasing 81 Israeli, 23 Thai and 1 Filipino hostages, who had come to Israel to work as labourers. However, this 6 day truce worked out by Qatar after negotiations with Israel and Hamas did not last long and war resumed with Israel bent upon getting the hostages released through military action.
Israel continues its policy of detaining Palestinians. For every Palestinian released Israel arrested another Palestinian. More Palestinians were arrested than were released. That is how the numbers in Israeli captivity doubled. On 24 January, 2024 Isreal re-arrested a teenager who was released in violation of the terms of  agreement for swap. Whereas much hue and cry was made of hundreds of Israeli hostages, the thousands of Palestinian detainees were not being considered as hostages.
More death and destruction followed in Gaza as well as in West Bank in 2024. The suffering of Palestinians has always been disproportionate to that of Israelis.
Finally, a truce was arrived at by the intervention of Qatar, Egypt and US. It was going to be implemented in three phases. As part of first phase starting on 19 January, 2025, Hamas agreed to release hostages in eight stages in exchange for prisoners to be freed from Israeli captivity. This was to be accompanied by Palestinians returning to North Gaza and an increase in humanitarian aid. As part of second phase more hostages were to be released in exchange for more prisoners and Israeli Army was supposed to completely withdraw from occupied areas of Gaza. In the third phase reconstruction of Gaza was to be undertaken. Wounded Palestinians were allowed to go to Egypt for the first time since war began in the first phase itself.
The first phase has been successfully completed. On 19 January, 2025, 3 Israeli female hostages were released in exchange for 90 Palestinian prisoners and aid trucks with food and fuel were allowed to enter Gaza through the Rafa crossing. On 25 January, 4 Israeli female soldier hostages were released in exchange for 200 Palestinian prisoners. On 30 January, 3 Israeli hostage were released in exchange for 110 Palestinian prisoners. On 1 February, 3 Israeli hostages were released for 183 Palestinian prisoners. On 8 February, again 3 Israeli hostages were exchanged for 183 prisoners from various Israeli jails. On 15 February, 3 Israelis were freed in return for 369 Palestinians freed from Israeli jails. On 20 February, bodies of 3 Israeli hostages were released, however, the fourth body was discovered to be not that of Shiri Bibas, as was claimed earlier, and hence was returned to Hamas. On 22 February, 6 Israeli hostages were released but Israel went back on its word and did not release any Palestinian prisoners as body of Shiri Bibas was not yet handed over. Subsequently, the same day body of Shiri Bibas was located and handed over to Israel. On 27 February, bodies of 4 hostages were exchanged for 620 prisoners released from being detained in Gaza or from Israeli jails.
While Israel took objection to the publicised events at which Israeli hostages were being released, Israeli military was raiding houses of Palestinians who were set to be released.
Among the Palestinians released some had been in Israeli jail for two decades. For example, Bilal Yassin, 42 years, was released after being 20 years in Israeli jail.
In first phase, which was a 42 days truce, 33 hostages, including 8 bodies, were freed in exchange for about 1,755 prisoners and detainees. Total of 141 hostages have been released in the 2023 and 2025 ceasefires, of whom 114 are Israelis. In exchange, 1,995 Palestinians have been released. 59 Israeli hostages yet remain to be freed, some of whom are presumed to be dead.
Among the Israeli hostages who have died, some were slain by their captors, yet others were killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza.
However, the casualties on both sides could have been much less had Israeli government not been headstrong and continued the ceasefire in  November 2023 and completed the hostage-prisoner exchange then itself. History has shown that Israel has always had to release disproportionate number of Palestinian or Arab captives in exchange for a few Israelis. For example, when Hamas captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in 2006, he was released in exchange for 1,027 Palestinian prisoners in 2011. In 1985 as part of Jibril Agreement, named after Ahmed Jibril, leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - General Command, 1,150 Palestinians were released in exchange for three Israelis kidnapped by his group. In 1983 more than 4,500 Palestinian prisoners were released in exchange for six Israeli soldiers kidnapped by Fatah in the 1982 Lebanon war.
Hence even if Israel might have had an upper hand in the wars against Palestine or the neighbouring Arab nations, it has invariably ended up releasing thousands of prisoners in exchange for tens of its citizens or soldiers, live or dead.
In the just concluded war, hopefully there will be no relapse, Israel has failed to achieve its objective of vanquishing Hamas and in the end has to agree to all the conditions that Hamas has laid out from release of prisoners to withdrawal of its forces to reconstruction of Gaza. From this perspective it is Hamas which has emerged victorious even though after paying a heavy price over which it had no control.
---
*General Secretary, Socialist Party (India)

Comments

Post a Comment

TRENDING

Academics urge Azim Premji University to drop FIR against Student Reading Circle

  By A Representative   A group of academics and civil society members has issued an open letter to the leadership of Azim Premji University expressing concern over the filing of a police complaint that led to an FIR against a student-run reading circle following a recent incident of violence on campus. The signatories state that they hold the university in high regard for its commitment to constitutional values, critical inquiry and ethical public engagement, and argue that it is precisely because of this reputation that the present development is troubling.
Post a Comment
»

Was Netaji forced to alter face, die in obscurity in USSR in 1975? Was he so meek?

  By Rajiv Shah   This should sound almost hilarious. Not only did Subhas Chandra Bose not die in a plane crash in Taipei, nor was he the mysterious Gumnami Baba who reportedly passed away on 16 September 1985 in Ayodhya, but we are now told that he actually died in 1975—date unknown—“in oblivion” somewhere in the former Soviet Union. Which city? Moscow? No one seems to know.
1 comment
»

UAPA action against Telangana activist: Criminalising legitimate democratic activity?

By A Representative   The National Investigation Agency's Hyderabad branch has issued notices to more than ten individuals in Telangana in connection with FIR No. RC-04/2025. Those served include activists, former student leaders, civil rights advocates, poets, writers, retired schoolteachers, and local leaders associated with the Communist Party of India (CPI) and the Indian National Congress. 
Post a Comment
»

Asbestos contamination in children’s products highlights global oversight gaps

By A Representative   A commentary published by the International Ban Asbestos Secretariat (IBAS) has drawn attention to the challenges governments face in responding effectively to global public-health risks. In an article written by Laurie Kazan-Allen and published on March 5, 2026, the author examines how the discovery of asbestos contamination in children’s play products has raised questions about regulatory oversight and international product safety. The article opens by reflecting on lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic, noting that governments in several countries were slow to respond to early warning signs of the crisis. Referring to the experience of the United Kingdom, the author writes that delays in implementing protective measures contributed to “232,112 recorded deaths and over a million people suffering from long Covid.” The commentary uses this example to illustrate what it describes as the dangers of underestimating emerging threats. Attention then turns...
Post a Comment
»

Aligning too closely with U.S., allies, India’s silence on IRIS Dena raises troubling questions

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat*  The reported sinking of the Iranian ship IRIS Dena in the Indian Ocean near Sri Lanka raises troubling questions about international norms and the credibility of the so-called rule-based order. If indeed the vessel was attacked by the American Navy while returning from a joint exercise in Visakhapatnam, it would represent a serious breach of trust and a violation of the principles that govern such cooperative engagements. Warships participating in these exercises are generally not armed for combat; they are meant to symbolize solidarity and friendship. The incident, therefore, is not only shocking but also deeply ironic.
Post a Comment
»

The kitchen as prison: A feminist elegy for domestic slavery

By Garima Srivastava* Kumar Ambuj stands as one of the most incisive voices in contemporary Hindi poetry. His work, stripped of ornamentation, speaks directly to the lived realities of India’s marginalized—women, the rural poor, and those crushed under invisible forms of violence. His celebrated poem “Women Who Cook” (Khānā Banātī Striyāṃ) is not merely about food preparation; it is a searing indictment of patriarchal domestic structures that reduce women’s existence to endless, unpaid labour.
Post a Comment
»

India’s foreign policy at crossroads: Cost of silence in the face of aggression

By Venkatesh Narayanan, Sandeep Pandey  The widely anticipated yet unprovoked attack on Iran on March 1 by the United States and Israel has drawn sharp criticism from several quarters around the world. Reports indicate that the strikes have resulted in significant civilian casualties, including 165 elementary school girls, 20 female volleyball players, and many other civilians. 
Post a Comment
»

India’s green energy push faces talent crunch amidst record growth at 16% CAGR

By Jag Jivan*  A new study by a top consulting firm has found that India’s cleantech sector is entering a decisive growth phase, with strong policy backing, record capacity additions and surging investor interest, but facing mounting pressure on talent supply and rising compensation costs .
Post a Comment
»

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Rajiv Shah  Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".
51 comments
»