Hamas leaders should have taken their time and reconsidered before hastily announcing their rejection of the International Criminal Court's Prosecutor's request to summon three of them for trial, along with the two highest Israeli officials: Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defense Minister Gallant. This is because Hamas had a major warning signal represented by Israel's previous announcement of its strong position rejecting the Prosecutor's decision. This alone should have prompted Hamas leaders to exercise caution and allow themselves enough time to explain to themselves, before their followers, how they can take a unified stance against Israel. They should have understood the implications of this decision as the first precedent in Israeli history where one of its officials is requested to be tried for some of its crimes against the Palestinians, equating its leaders with some of the worst tyrants, criminals, and corrupt individuals in the Third World, thus affecting the image that Israel seeks to present of itself as a representative of the civilized world in the region.
Furthermore, Hamas leaders always declare that they have no choice but to use arms to achieve Palestinian goals; therefore, how can they squander such an exceptional opportunity that allows them to accomplish multiple things at once on one of the world's largest platforms? This is not only an exceptional opportunity to put Israeli leaders on trial but also a historic chance for Palestinians to explain their case and expose Israel by showcasing its crimes against their people and civilians, especially the brutal killing of their children, justifying their resort to arms, and demanding that those who falsely accuse them provide evidence, or else the accusations would officially fall under a decision from the international court, among other benefits for the Palestinian cause.
As for the Israeli rejection, it is understandable, as having their leaders appear before the court would create a precedent that would lead to, in addition to what has been mentioned, other results, including hindering their project to seize all of Palestine. Of course, it is not prudent to expect Israeli leaders to appear in court. This presents a significant opportunity for Palestinians: they could either condition their surrender on the arrest of Netanyahu and Gallant, or they could even agree to surrender without that condition, but with another condition that the Israelis be tried in absentia.
However, Hamas's outright refusal allows the Israeli propaganda machine to exploit this and portray the Palestinians as the ones obstructing the trial.
