Hamas Faces a Future Without Its Most Important Ally

Hamas has long believed that a wider war in the Middle East would help deliver the organization a victory in its war with Israel.

But the cease-fire deal to stop the fighting between Israel and the Lebanese group Hezbollah has left that strategy in tatters, potentially removing Hamas’s most important ally from the fight, according to U.S. officials.

The agreement is a step forward for the Biden administration, which has tried to contain that wider war and increase pressure on Hamas to make a deal with Israel and release the hostages it holds in Gaza.

But even before the Lebanese cease-fire was announced on Tuesday, Palestinian and U.S. officials said they believed that Hamas’s political leadership was ready to make a deal and abandon the strategy formulated by its leader, Yahya Sinwar, who was killed by Israeli forces last month.

After Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, Mr. Sinwar had focused on trying to defeat the country by bringing it into a full-scale war with Hezbollah and Iran. U.S. officials said that as long as that strategy appeared to have a chance, Mr. Sinwar would block any cease-fire deal.