LOS ANGELES.–Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, 74, responds to overwhelming global pressure to end his campaign against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, started Oct. 7, 2023 when Hamas slaughtered 1,200 Israeli citizens, mostly teenagers, taking another 250 hostage. Netanyahu declared war on Hamas, knowing the terror group that rules Gaza would be difficult to get rid of because it’s deeply embedded in the civilian population and Gaza’s elaborate military tunnel system. Yet Netanyahu knows what he faces with Hamas, an Iranian-funded terror group committed to the destruction of Israel. Israeli’s relentless six-month campaign has chased Hamas leadership all over Gaza, forcing its senior leaders Yahya Sinwar and Mohammed Deif to hide in Gaza’s underground tunnels. Netanyahu faces daily condemnation in the world press for its six month military campaign.
Netanyahu resists calls from the U.N. and other places to end its military operation because of Gaza’s 2.2 million civilian population, forced to flee their homes in northern and central Gaza, now squeezing into Gaza’s southern-most Rafah border region. Netanyahu made clear that remaining Hamas terrorists are in Rafah, prompting the next operation to neutralize what’s left of Hamas’s military and to capture-or-kill what’s left of Hamas leadership. Facing relentless pressure for a ceasefire, Netanayahu asks the U.S. for a few more weeks to complete its mission in Rafah, necessary to clear out remaining Hamas nests. President Joe Biden, 81, and his 70-year-old Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin asked Netanyahu to reconsider his Rafah campaign, knowing that extent of civilian casualties, at least as it’s reported daily by Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health.
Austin asked Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant at the Pentagon March 27 to reconsider the Rafah invasion, based on humanitarian conditions, pushing the Gaza population into famine, according to latest U.N. reports. Austin said he wants Netanyahu to find “an alternative to a full-scale and perhaps a premature military operation,” according to an unnamed U.S. Pentagon official. Responding to U.S. opposition to a Rafah invansion, Netanyah asked the U.S. to show more patience. “That’s victory,” Netanyahu said about its upcoming Rafah operation. “”Victory is within reach. It’s a few weeks away,” Netanyahu said, asking for U.S. patience, when the world has run out of it. No one in the international committee is committed, like Israel, to getting rid of Hamas, instead working on placating the terror group’s demands to end the bloodshed in Gaza.
Netanyahu knows that Israel is close to completing its mission in Gaza but hasn’t yet neutralized Hamas remaining military and leadership. Biden faces tough choices in an Election Year, placating Arab groups or allowing, like he’s done for the last six months, Israel to finish the job in Gaza. Biden and his national security staff, including 61-year-old Secretary of State Antony Blinken and 47-year-old National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, know that Hamas cannot be part of post-war Gaza. Without ridding Gaza of Hamas, Biden’s national security team knows there can be no lasting peace. None of Gaza’s past donors from oil-rich Gulf States want to go through Hamas’s endless uprisings and wars, knowing it only results in Gaza’s destruction. Changing regimes in Gaza is essential for any reconstruction and lasting peace. Hamas cannot continue to rule Gaza.
When it comes to knowing what’s best for Israel, Biden should know that Netanyahu has the experience to deal with Hamas terrorism. Trying to reassure Biden about what a Rafah operation would look like, Netanyahu says there’s exaggerated concern over the collateral damage to the civilian population. “People move down, they can move back up,” Netanyahu said. “And people just move. They move with their tents,” saying Israeli Defense Forces make every accommodation to avoid civilian casualties. “This is almost a mass hysteria that has been built wrongly—wrongly—that we cannot finish the job. We have to finish the job,” putting Biden and others on notice that Israel will do what needed for its national security. Because Hamas leadership is concentrated now in Rafah, Netanyahu thinks Israel must confront Hamas in its current headquarters.
Netanyhu knows better than anyone how to deal with Hamas, especially after the Oct. 7 slaughter or 1,200 Israelis. All the criticism coming from Palestinian sympathizers know that Hamas could end the stalemate at anytime releasing all Israeli hostages but it won’t continuing to make unrealistic demands to get terrorists released from Israeli jails. Biden and his national security team know there’s no turning back about getting rid of Hamas for Gaza’s future. Since Hamas seized Gaza from the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority in 2007, its wasted $100 billion in foreign aid designed to rebuilt Gaza and improve ordinary Palestinian lives in Gaza. Instead, Hams used the lion’s share of foreign aid for armaments and building underground tunnels from which to attack Israel. Whatever objections that White House has to Netanyahu, it’s largely PR, especially during an Election Year.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
