Across every corner of the globe, there are disagreements among supporters of Hamas and Israel ‎over which side was the winner of that damned war. In our country everyone is supposed to ‎repeat that Hamas was the winner because if anything else is said, the meaning is support for ‎Israel which, in our country, is the gravest accusation on earth.‎

Even if one supposes that Israel achieved all its aims in the Gaza war, that point only proves ‎Israel's might and not that its intentions were just. However, in our country even claiming that ‎much is to support Israel because, according to the autocrats, in addition to having unjust ‎intentions, Israel definitely must have lost and Hamas, in addition to having justice on its side, ‎must have won the conflict.‎

This issue affects not just our country. Syria and Hezbollah and the Islamic Jihad and Hamas ‎also look at the world from the same lens. It is not for no reason that none of them stopped at ‎condemning Israel for unjustly attacking the Gaza strip and declaring it the loser - they placed a ‎heavy emphasis on the victory of Hamas. ‎

Hamas could have claimed innocence and the right to justice, but why does it insist on claiming ‎victory in this asymmetric war?‎

If an ordinary Palestinian citizen asks the leaders of Hamas whether victory consists in the ‎destruction of infrastructure in Gaza, the homelessness of tens of thousands of ordinary citizens, ‎and the death of more than 1300 individuals, many of which women and children, and returning ‎Gaza to the pre-industrial stage, would they have an answer?‎

Perhaps the answer to all these questions is that Hamas wants to portray its resistance strategy as ‎the most effective strategy for Palestine's liberation and, as such, regards a destructive war as ‎victory. The strategy of launching Ghesam missiles - which some refer to as "firecrackers" - is a ‎costly strategy, despite Hamas's reluctance to admit it.‎

There are much more effective and less costly paths open to Palestinians to defend their rights ‎and interests. Speaking of them in our country is equated with defending Israel. Undoubtedly, ‎the Palestinians can mobilize a massive non-violent campaign against the occupation of their ‎territories, building of a security fence and expansion of Israeli settlements to pressure radical ‎elements in Tel Aviv and return their borders to 1967 boundaries.‎

Such a movement will not only unite all Palestinians but also attract the international ‎community's support and intensify rifts in the Israeli society between the radical and more ‎moderate elements.‎

In our country, however, speaking of a civil, non-violent campaign against Israel to protest ‎Israeli settlements and the building of a security fence, are considered supporting Israel because ‎such suggestions - in the regime's view - do not bring about Israel's destruction!‎

Obviously, how the Palestinians including members of Hamas would like to determine their fate ‎is an issue that concerns them alone, but my worry is that when Iranian officials boast about ‎‎"Iran's victory" in a possible war against the United States and its allies, they mean the kind of ‎victory that Hamas claims to have registered in the 22-day Gaza war, meaning the vast death toll ‎for civilians, destruction of infrastructure and rising homelessness over the rubble left over from ‎a cruel bombardment campaign. ‎

God! Please save our country such victories!‎