After Israel and Hamas reached an agreement to a ceasefire on January 15th,
after more than a year of war and devastation that left over 40,000 Gazans dead
and virtually all of Gaza reduced to rubble, Khalil Al-Hayya, a member of
Hamas’s political bureau, delivered a speech on Al-Jazeera, calling the war,
which they called as “Al-Aqsa Flood war” a victory, adding that the October 7
attacks will continue to be a “source of pride” for Palestinians.
> Arab Journalists On Social Media Slam #Hamas
> [https://twitter.com/hashtag/Hamas?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw]: #Gaza
> [https://twitter.com/hashtag/Gaza?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw] Is In Ruins
> And Tens Of Thousands Have Been Killed. If This Is Victory, What Does Defeat
> Look Like? – Audio of report here https://t.co/QEqSgCrhWO
> [https://t.co/QEqSgCrhWO] #MEMRI
> [https://twitter.com/hashtag/MEMRI?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw]
> pic.twitter.com/5ChjxOVAWO [https://t.co/5ChjxOVAWO]
>
> — MEMRI (@MEMRIReports) January 21, 2025
> [https://twitter.com/MEMRIReports/status/1881765288313598075?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw]
Al-Hayya further stated that Israel has failed in its stated goals to defeat
Hamas, promised that the jihad will continue, and thanked all the forces and
nations that helped or provided support to Hamas in the war.
Other Hamas officials were also quick to claim victory, stating that Hamas
managed to deal heavy blows against Israel while preventing it from achieving
its objectives. They also described the ceasefire agreement as an “achievement”
in which Hamas managed to impose its terms on Israel.
However, in response to these statements, Arab journalists, writers, and
researchers took to X (formerly known as Twitter) to slam Hamas officials for
presenting the war and the subsequent ceasefire agreement between them and
Israel as a victory, noting the immense destruction in Gaza, the deaths of tens
of thousands of Gazans, and the displacement of millions more.
> What kind of victory is this? Over 40,000 were killed, 100,000 injured, and
> more than 65% of Gaza’s buildings reduced to rubble—this isn’t victory; it’s a
> grotesque display of indifference to Gazan lives, all for the delusion of a
> hollow, false triumph. https://t.co/otUh2H0qWg [https://t.co/otUh2H0qWg]
>
> — Ihab Hassan (@IhabHassane) September 22, 2024
> [https://twitter.com/IhabHassane/status/1837652713108042105?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw]
“[Hamas official Khalil] Al-Hayya called Hamas’ victories in Gaza
‘miraculous’!!! Oh Al-Hayya,[3] if you see this [spilled] blood and destruction
as a ‘victory,’ I’d like to know how you would describe a defeat!!!…” Saudi
media figure Yahya Al-Shabraqi wrote.
Saudi journalist Hussein Al-Waday also wrote that “if Hamas thinks it has gained
a victory, then it’s a victory over the Palestinians,” adding that the war “has
destroyed their lives and future and defeated their cause, bringing it to the
brink of the grave.”
Some, such as Fahd Deepaji, mocked Al-Hayya’s “false victory speech” and even
called him a “snake,” a sarcastic reference to the meaning of his name in
Arabic. Deepaji shared a cartoon depicting the official as a snake coiled around
the ruins of Gaza, saying, “We achieved a total victory in Gaza.”
> A “Victory” in Ruins
> The scale of destruction in Gaza surpasses Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and Dresden.
> Gazans are slowly realizing that Hamas’s “victory” declaration might be the
> cruelest joke they’ve ever heard. Tragically.
>
> Enough rubble to fill up the still existing terror tunnels!
> pic.twitter.com/vaKplgPHyq [https://t.co/vaKplgPHyq]
>
> — Haim Ahmed Emmet (@HaEmmet) January 21, 2025
> [https://twitter.com/HaEmmet/status/1881744847637446915?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw]
Other writers claimed that not only Hamas failed to win but was utterly defeated
and crushed by Israel, along with other Iranian proxies like Hezbollah. Some
even accused Hamas of treachery because of its loyalty to Iran.
“Hamas ratified a surrender agreement just as the Iranian party in Lebanon
[i.e., Hizbullah] did before it. Thus collapsed Iran’s myth of the Islamic
resistance, which has not liberated one inch of Palestine or advanced a single
step toward Jerusalem but [only] brought devastation upon the land and its
people wherever it established itself – for resistance is meant to be national
or not to exist at all.” Abdulkhaleq Abdulla, an Emirati researcher and
professor of political science, said.
> Gaza has won.
>
> — Khamenei.ir (@khamenei_ir) January 22, 2025
> [https://twitter.com/khamenei_ir/status/1882008854286004400?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw]
Palestinian journalist Ayman Khaled shared the remarks made by Al-Hayya on
Al-Jazeera, where he thanked Hamas’s allies in the axis that helped them in its
war against Israel and commented: “[This is] the height of betrayal.
‘Congratulations to Iran, Hizbullah, the Houthis, the Iraqi militias, and the
militias in Jenin who are collaborating with Iran’ – that was the gist of the
remarks made by the snake Khalil Al-Hayya in his false victory speech
yesterday.”
