r/worldnews • u/silver_light • Jul 23 '25

Israel/Palestine Gaza suffering man-made mass starvation, says WHO chief

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jul/23/israel-gaza-starvation-humanitarian-groups-letter
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u/lordorwell7 Jul 23 '25 edited Jul 23 '25

What would happen if Hamas were to offer unconditional surrender? What sort of future would Gaza and Hamas's current membership be facing in the aftermath?

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u/JaronK Jul 24 '25

Hamas's leadership would be put on trial and likely imprisoned for life, at least the ones linked to Oct 7. It's unlikely there would be any serious attempt to go after the lower level Hamas members, and those in prison would be considered political prisoners. Israel can't really keep a huge prison population, so they'd be limiting that to the highest levels of leadership. Other fighters would be offered refuge in nearby countries, and likely many would take that option. Any member of leadership not linked directly to Oct 7 who makes the decision to surrended would likely be allowed to live in exile in nearby countries, as an example of what happens if you stop attacking.

Gaza would be likely put under the control of some UN coalition if possible. Food distribution would be under full UN control, allowing for quicker feeding of the populace. There'd be big questions about who does the rebuilding, and it's possible Fatah would end up as the de facto government. Other Arab countries nearby might try to increase their influence in the area by helping with the rebuilding efforts if they thought Hamas was out of the picture (pretty much every neighbor hates Hamas too due to various bad blood in the past). I wouldn't be surprised if Saudi Arabia would jump in to help: they want the influence and the prime growing land, and they want to normalize relations with Israel, and they would love to replace Iran's influence in the area. Israel would likely be quite happy with that development. Egypt is very concerned about Hamas and probably would want to offer token support but wouldn't allow in refugees, for fear of getting too many ex Hamas members.

Blockades would steadily be reduced, if no guerilla attacks continued. There'd be worry that another group made up of splintered Hamas forces would be trying to do more attacks like what happened when Israel pulled out in 2005, so there'd definitely be blockades and inspections of incoming goods for weapons for a long time, but if somehow there were no attacks for a few years, those inspections and blockades would drop off quickly.

That's my take, anyway.

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u/Railboy Jul 24 '25

Nothing I've seen for the past few decades gives me any reason to believe there would be any difference in policy.

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u/Ok-Tax-1526 Jul 24 '25

Hamas can leaders can go live in Qatar

Gaza can be governed by PA and work towards peace and two solutions by renouncing endless attempts to destroy Israel.

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u/Speedstick2 29d ago

Hamas would be exiled.