# 142: Can Gaza ever move on from Hamas? With Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/ask-haviv-anything-7201561/142-can-gaza-ever-move-on-from-hamas-with-ahmed-fouad-alkhatib
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/ask-haviv-anything-7201561/142-can-gaza-ever-move-on-from-hamas-with-ahmed-fouad-alkhatib.md
Podcast: [Ask Haviv Anything](https://stenobird.com/podcast/ask-haviv-anything-7201561)
Published: 2026-08-30T10:00:10+00:00
Episode link: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ask-haviv-anything/episodes/142-Can-Gaza-ever-move-on-from-Hamas--With-Ahmed-Fouad-Alkhatib-e3o2vpu
Audio file: https://anchor.fm/s/100cf5c64/podcast/play/124927230/https%3A%2F%2Fd3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net%2Fstaging%2F2026-7-30%2F430807642-44100-2-b4276c4efd798.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/ask-haviv-anything-7201561/episodes/142-can-gaza-ever-move-on-from-hamas-with-ahmed-fouad-alkhatib
Duration seconds: 6165

## Resource

To support our work, please consider joining our Patreon community (https://www.patreon.com/c/AskHavivAnything), Substack (https://havivgur.substack.com/), or Buy Me a Coffee (https://buymeacoffee.com/havivrettiggur). And be sure to check us out on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/haviv.rettig.gur/) and TikTok (https://www.tiktok.com/@haviv.rettig.gur). -- Can Gaza ever be rebuilt while Hamas remains armed? Gazan-American writer Ahmed Fouad Al-Khatib returns to trace Hamas’s rise — from Islamist charities and the slow remaking of Gazan society to authoritarian rule, October 7, and ruinous war. Drawing on his childhood in Gaza and his new book, Hamas and Its Two Million Hostages, Ahmed argues that foreign aid, international NGOs, and Al Jazeera helped Hamas entrench itself while ordinary Gazans paid the price. He and Haviv confront the hardest questions: Can Hamas be separated from Gazan society? Could a movement built around armed “resistance” ever disarm? And is there still a path from permanent war to Palestinian nation-building and coexistence? Ahmed's new book, Hamas and its Two Million Hostages is available at: https://www.amazon.com/Hamas-Its-Two-Million-Hostages/dp/1760646156/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1WYTUN2AK9KHF&di -- This episode is sponsored by the family of Dr. Chalo Smukler, a beloved husband, father, grandfather, physician, and proud American Jew, on the occasion of his unveiling. Born in Paraguay and descended from Jews who fled persecution in Eastern Europe, Chalo was a leader from a young age in the Jewish youth movement Hanoar Hatzioni and first moved to Israel at sixteen. There he discovered a free society, a sense of Jewish brotherhood, and a refuge that would remain central to his life. He lived with humility, kindness, courage, and an extraordinary…

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