An interview with Reuters this week by senior Hamas official Khaled Meshaal and a video statement from Hezbollah’s deputy leader Naim Qassem around the same time show that both men are disconnected from reality.
While Meshaal astutely discerns the fine line between tactical setbacks and strategic defeats, Qassem conveniently left out some grim facts: More than a million Lebanese have been displaced, villages in the Bekaa, the South, and Dahiyeh have been devastated, and hundreds of lives have been lost, with thousands more injured. This is a steep price to pay for “steadfastness”.
Their own reality
The triumphant tone of their speeches, marking the first anniversary of the Hamas attack on southern Israel, finds a resonant echo among commentators, journalists, and influencers on social media. These talking heads continue to extol the supposed virtues and victories of Hamas and Hezbollah, with some pundits and writers even warning that those who oppose them will be held accountable once the guns fall silent.
Recounting the huge numbers that have died, the homes reduced to rubble, the livelihoods lost, and the suffering inflicted feels almost futile. Nor is it necessary to emphasise the groups’ undeniable setbacks on the ground. Not only is there now an entrenched Israeli military presence in both the Gaza Strip and parts of Lebanon, but senior leaders within both groups have been killed, taking their knowledge, experience, and contacts with them.
Yet Meshaal told Reuters that this was simply a setback, that Palestinian history is full of setbacks, and that Hamas would “rise like a phoenix from the ashes”. Qassem struck a similar note, saying Hezbollah was here to stay.
If the emptiness in these remarks (and those of their peers) reveals anything, it is not merely a disconnection from reality or a dismissal of the immense suffering and humanitarian catastrophe that recent weeks and months have wrought. Most strikingly, it underscores these leaders’ inability to recognise the signs of political and military defeat or to carve out a meaningful role and mission that stretches from Tehran to the Mediterranean.
