After 'al-Aqsa Flood,' 37th anniversary of Hamas’ founding could mark group’s demise in Gaza

The 37th anniversary of the Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, which took place on Saturday, offered no reason for joy or celebration this year.

According to a Hamas leader residing in Turkey, who spoke to Saudi newspaper Elaph on condition of anonymity, this year's anniversary marks the decline of Hamas in Gaza and the defeat of its allies in the region.

The leader also admitted that the terror group is facing a leadership crisis after losing most of the top political and military leaders in Gaza, including Yahya Sinwar, along with the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran. He said the "Al-Aqsa Flood" operation, Hamas’ name for the Oct. 7 terror attack in southern Israel last year, has turned into a defeat for the terror group, drowning them in a sea of blood and destruction.

While the elimination of senior Hamas leadership in Gaza, like Sinwar and Mohammed Deif, was a significant defeat for the group, the defeat of “Axis of Resistance” allies, including Hezbollah in Lebanon, has further hindered Hamas’ goals for the war. The most recent setback for Hamas was the collapse of Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria, a regime with which Hamas had been attempting to rebuild relations.

According to the report in Elaph, the new Syrian government informed the Palestinian factions, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), that they must close their offices, hand over weapons, dissolve training camps, and leave Syria as quickly as possible. The site reported that the leaders of the Palestinian groups in Damascus at the time of the rebel takeover fled to Tehran.

The Hamas leader told Elaph that its leadership currently does not know what to do or where to turn, as most of its previous allies have been weakened or defeated. The remaining Hamas leadership is now reportedly willing to negotiate a hostage release-ceasefire deal in an attempt to wrest some concessions from Israel.

Hamas reportedly continues to operate from Doha, Qatar but in a reduced capacity. Elaph said the group’s representatives there have been asked to be restrained in their work, to cancel meetings and gatherings, and not to contact foreign journalists. Qatar has resumed its role in hostage and ceasefire negotiations with Israel but is reportedly more flexible regarding Israeli terms than before.

A year after the terror group’s apparent greatest success in striking a painful blow against Israel, which its leaders hoped would inflame the Middle East and provoke its “Axis of Resistance” allies, Hamas has, instead, witnessed the destruction of its power in Gaza, the assassination of its leaders, the defeat of Hezbollah in Lebanon, the collapse of Assad's regime in Syria, and the collapse of the Iranian proxy axis.

On a Hamas-affiliated website, the group pledged to “remain faithful to the blood of the martyrs and the sacrifices and resilience of our people, and to continue all efforts until the end of aggression and the fulfillment of our people’s aspirations for freedom and self-determination.”

Absent from its statement were claims of liberating the Palestinian homeland or striking the aggressor, as it had previously declared on its anniversary.

With the return of President-elect Donald Trump to the White House, and his ultimatum to Hamas to release the hostages before his inauguration on Jan. 20, or else there would be “all hell to pay,” Hamas is facing its potential complete defeat, militarily in Gaza and politically in the Middle East.