Hamas Needs Harsh Israeli Retaliation To Survive

One of the things that many forget about the war that now rages between Israel and Hamas: Hamas wants Israel to retaliate. Hamas wants Israel to inflict as much damage upon the Gaza Strip as possible. That's why they so blatently upped the number of rockets they were firing into Israel after the cease-fire with Israel expired.

Not logical, you yell! How could Hamas want its own people to be killed? How could it put Gaza on the chopping block? Are you talking out of your ass?

Not at all. Hamas had lost nearly all of the power it once claimed among moderate Palestinians as advances under the West Bank based-Fatah and the Palestinian Authority toward a potential peace deal with Israel became more clear. The resulting easing of tensions with Israel among West Bank Palestinians and the improving economic situation in the West Bank had made many see Fatah as a party that was moving forward.

The prospect that the West Bank PA could sign a peace deal with Israel - which has been more likely than ever given Prime Minister Olmert's non-concern with his political status - absolutely frightens Hamas.

A peace deal spells the end of Hamas power, and it spells the end of Hamas using its call to destroy Israel as a rallying point in internal politics. A peace deal completely delegitimizes Hamas' status as a power in Palestinian politics. Even talk of a peace deal that is never acheived damages Hamas' standing.

That's because Hamas knows the vast majority of Palestinians in the West Bank are non-religious. They have no interest in supporting a party that advocates a move toward Sharia Law, which Hamas does. Besides destroying Israel, ruling according to the Koran is the only other platform Hamas stands behind.

Hence, the majority of West Bank Palestinians really never had an interest in half of Hamas' platform, Sharia Law, and if a peace deal were signed, West Bankers would literally share nothing with Hamas.

In the last Palestinian election, the limited number of West Bank Palestinians who supported Hamas did so only because they saw Hamas as an answer to what was seen as a corrupt Fatah organization. Now that West Bank Palestinians have seen that Hamas is just as corrupt, they will only support Hamas if it is seen as a the party that embodies Palestinian resistance. Never underestimate the sexiness of resistance among Palestinians. It is hard wired into the culture after years of occupation.

That brings us back to the main point - why Hamas wants Israel to cause as much destruction as possible in the Gaza Strip, regardless of the costs to the Strip's citizens.

Every day that the Israeli operation continues against Hamas, Hamas garners further support among both Gaza and West Bank Palestinians. They gain this support because Palestinians as a whole see Hamas as a force that is being attacked simply for being 'resistant' to Israel.

During times of war, the Palestinians quickly forget the various complexities that make Hamas an enemy to the majority of Palestinians. That's because Hamas is now that party that is associated with demanding statehood. Hence, even though most Palestinians have no interest in Hamas values, many are now extremely sympathetic to the group.

Hamas knows that sympathy could translate into fantastic results for Hamas party members in the West Bank when elections are held next. Since peace talks have now all but been destroyed given the current violence, Hamas, not Fatah, will be the party that has an answer when people ask what it has done to promote a state.

Hamas has fought Israel, its leaders will say, and the group will promise to continue the fight. Forget that a real peace deal may have been achieved had violence never broke out and Fatah been able to continue negotiations.

Meanwhile, Fatah will be seen as having accomplished nothing, even though negotiations between its representatives and Israel have possibly been more fruitful behind the scenes than ever before.

Previous to the most recent bought of fighting, Hamas had begun to decline. Palestinians saw the true colors of the organization, and in the West Bank specifically, the group had little chance of winning anything outside of Hebron. Hamas had nothing to show for itself.

I make these observations as a journalist covering the war, and as a resident of the Christian Quarter in Jerusalem's Old City. I've seen with my own eyes the complex transition among Palestinians in my neighborhood, even among some Christians, as they grapple with sentiments of support for Hamas despite being fundamentally against the group's policies.