LOS ANGELES.–Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu admitted Israel is now in multi-front war with Hamas in Gaza, Hezbolllah in Lebanon, Houthis in Yemen and Iran, poised to retaliate for the July 31 remote controlled bomb that killed 62-year-old Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed retaliation for Israel assassinating Haniyeh on Iranian soil. “Reinforcing stability and security in the region will be achieved by punishing the aggressor and creating deterrence against Israel and its adventurism,” said Iran’s Foreign Ministry. How and when the Iranian attack on Israel takes place is anyone’s guess. Iran and its proxies, Hamas, Hezbollah and Ansar Allah [Houthis] struck Israel April 13 with multiple missiles, all of which were fended off by Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system with the help of the U.S. navy.
Israel has been locked in deadly war with Hamas since the Gaza-based terror group attacked Israel Oct. 7, 2023, killing 1,200 and taking 250 hostages, it the worst atrocity since the WW II Nazi Holocaust. Netanyahu declared war with Hamas Oct. 8, leaving Gaza in a state of war for the last nine months. Hamas’s Ministry of Health, known for its propaganda, says Gaza has lost 40,000 civilians and militants since the war started Oct. 8, 2023. No international body can verify Hamas casualty counts, considered grossly exaggerated by Israeli Defense Forces [IDF]. Despite pressure from the U.S. and international community, Netanyahu has continued his war with Hamas, vowing to continue the war until Hamas leaves the Gaza Strip. Netanyahu doesn’t believe there can be any lasting peace in Gaza without Hamas ending its corrupt rule over Gaza’s 2.1 million population.
Haniyeh, who was assassinated July 31 in Tehran, stole billions in donor aid to Gaza for 17 years, giving him a net worth estimated at $4 billion. Other Hamas leaders like 68-year-old Khaled Meshaal, who took over from Haniyeh, is also worth about $4 billion, living in Doha, Qatar like Haniyech. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, 62, and 46-year-old National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, know that Hamas officials are completely corrupt and would start the war with Israel all over again. Hamas was founded by Sheikh Ahmed Yassin in 1987 to serve as the military wing of Yasser Arafat’s Palestine Liberation Organization, founded in 1964 with the expressed goal of destroying Israel. Hamas only seeks to destroy Israel, has no intent now or in the future of making peace with the Jewish state. Hamas seeks to liberate all Palestinian land from Israeli occupation.
Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have tried to get Netanyahu to sign on to a ceasefire agreement to stop the bloodshed and hardship in Palestinian civilians. Both know that if Netanyahu lets Hamas stay in power, the whole thing would happen all over again in some murky future. Biden wants to secure his legacy of ending the Gaza War but knows he’s in no position to do what’s right with Israel. So far, the U.S. and other European Union countries have not called for Hamas to leave the Gaza Strip. Only with a complete change of government can Israel guarantee that the same corruption and slaughter would not happen again. Biden and Kamala met with the White House in the Situation Room to plot out strategy Monday, knowing that Kamala and her new running mate, Minn. Gov. Tim Walz would spend the next five days campaigning in Midwest swing states.
Israel has not cowered in the threat of Iranian proxy groups that wreak terror on the Middle East and Horn of Africa. Biden administration officials have done little to stop Iran’s state-sponsored terrorism, leaving it to Netanyahu to endure the brunt of Iran’s terrorist activities. Iran, a Shiite nation, uses Israel to maintain its hold on the Sunni Arab world, where many states like Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and others have worked to make peace with Israel. Iran no longer influences Sunni Gulf States to join its state-sponsored terrorism against Israel. Since the Sept. 15, 2020 Abraham accords, Ayatollah Khamenei can’t summons more terrorism against Israel. Oil-rich Gulf States no longer trust paying billions to Hamas to fund Gaza’s reconstruction. Too much corruption has left Gulf States unwilling to back the Hamas government.
Threats of a wider war in the Middle East aren’t likely with most Arab State no longer willing to go to war against Israel to serve the Ayatollah’s propaganda. Killing Hamas political chief Haniyeh, Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif and Hezbollah’s military commander Fuad Shukr leaves only Hamas Gaza leader Yahya Sinwar in charge. Sinwar was the mastermind of Oct. 7 and Israel has no intent of negotiating for a ceasefire with him in power. Biden and Harris desperately seek as Gaza ceasefire but are they willing to make a deal with the devil? Sinwar is pure evil, a terrorist through-and-through, someone no one can trust to do anything other than create more mayhem in Gaza and the Middle East. With Sinwar named Hamas’s new leader, the U.S. has no choice but to let Netanyahu finish the job in Gaza. Whatever prospects for peace, the all ended with Sinwar in charge of Hamas.
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.
