What has Hamas achieved after 15 months of war with Israel?

With the assassination of two of its most senior leaders, and the devastating human toll in Gaza, the future of Hamas appears uncertain.

But the scenes of its militia re-emerging hours after the ceasefire sent a message of defiance.

The scenes outraged an Israeli public, who were told that victory would only come after the complete destruction of Hamas.

While the world prays for an end to the violence in Gaza, Hamas’ senior leaders say a new chapter of their fight against Israel is expected - this time in the West Bank.

As settler-led violence and Israeli military raids on Palestinian villages reach historic levels, many have lost hope that the Palestinian Authority and its president Mahmoud Abbas can do anything to protect Palestinians from another all-out war.

Instead, the lure of armed resistance championed by Hamas has influenced a generation of disillusioned and angry young Palestinians, who’ve given up hope that diplomacy offers them any future.

This week on The Big Picture Podcast, we speak with senior Hamas official Basem Naim, who is a former health minister in Gaza and now part of the group’s political bureau.

Naim believes that Gaza was only the first chapter in the war, and that the next will be more complicated and ultimately more devastating.

We'd love to hear your thoughts on this episode, and any guests you'd like us to have on our show. Reach us by email at mh@middleeasteye.org or find us on instagram @BigPictureMee.

You can also watch all our episodes on our YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMyaP73Ho1ySj3cO0OSOHZAOgD1WTDixG

Netanyahu’s social contract has collapsed, and Israelis are in a state of shock.

That is how former Israeli negotiator Daniel Levy sees the outcome of 15 months of war in Gaza, after a ceasefire was brokered without Hamas conceding defeat.

Instead, Israelis watch the scenes of Hamas militants celebrating in fresh uniforms and wonder what exactly did their Prime Minister achieve after promising nothing short of a total victory.

Meanwhile, the abject failures of the Biden Administration in their deeply unpopular Gaza policy were undermined by the seeming ease of Trump’s ability to force Netanyahu to accept a deal that was on the table since May 2024.

But as Levy says, this says less about Trump’s power as it does Netanyahu’s vulnerability.

This week on the Big Picture Podcast, we sit down with the former Israeli peace negotiator and the president of the US-Middle East Project Daniel Levy.

Daniel Levy was part of the negotiating team during the Oslo Accords in the mid-90s. He was then a Senior Advisor to the Prime Minister’s office and a lead drafter of the model peace agreement, known as the Geneva Initiative.

If you’d like to read Amos Harel’s analysis on the IDF’s push for a ceasefire, you can read it here: https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2025-01-22/ty-article/.premium/despite-operational-successes-in-gaza-the-next-idf-chief-will-inherit-an-army-in-crisis/00000194-8abc-dee1-aff7-ebff04f10000

We'd love to hear your thoughts on this episode, and any guests you'd like us to have on our show. Reach us by email at mh@middleeasteye.org or find us on instagram @BigPictureMee.

You can also watch all our episodes on our YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMyaP73Ho1ySj3cO0OSOHZAOgD1WTDixG

When Fatima Payman was first elected to Australia’s senate - she didn’t imagine she’d go to war with the Prime Minister two years later.

Back in May, the country’s first ever hijabi lawmaker broke ranks with the governing Labor Party and accused Israel of genocide in Gaza.

Despite attempts by her party to rein her in, she refused to stay quiet about what she saw happening in Gaza, and became increasingly vocal about her party’s silence on the issue, and Australia’s continued trade deals with Israel.

​​By June, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese suspended her from the caucus, then from the party, and by July she’d been exiled permanently.

Today, she continues to advocate for Palestinian rights as an independent senator, and her fiery critiques of the Labor government are even bolder.

This week on The Big Picture Podcast, we speak with Senator Fatima Payman about navigating her young career in Politics as an outsider determined to speak from her conscience.

We'd love to hear your thoughts on this episode, and any guests you'd like us to have on our show. Reach us by email at mh@middleeasteye.org or find us on instagram @BigPictureMee.

You can also watch all our episodes on our YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMyaP73Ho1ySj3cO0OSOHZAOgD1WTDixG