LOS ANGELES.–Shuttling back to Jerusalem for a last ditch ceasefire deal, 62-year-old Secretary of State Antony Blinden was hopeful he could pull off the near-impossible feat for 81-year-old President Joe Biden, the night he speaks for the last time at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Eyptian, Qatari and U.S. negotiators have worked round-the-clock to put a ceasfire deal together in Gaza to stop the bloodshed that’s claimed some 40,000 Palestinian lives according to the dubious Hamas Ministry of Health. No one knows the real numbers but poor Gazans have suffered during the 10-month war after 61-year-old Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar planned and ordered the Holocaust-like massacre of 1,200 Israelis Oct. 7, taking 250 hostages. Hamas returned 105 hostages Nov. 30, 2023, with the remaining hostages 116 hostages, at least 30 or more are presumed dead.
Hamas bristled at the ceasefire deal because it only involves a hostage released in exchange for a six-week ceasefire, not the permanent ceasefire Hamas demanded. Hamas wants all Israeli forces out of Gaza, something Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu isn’t prepared to do, unless Hamas agrees to leave the Gaza Strip. Hamas demands a permanent ceasefire and complete withdrawal of all Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip, both conditions not included in the May 31 three-stage agreement proposed by Biden. “The critical next step is for Hamas to accept the bridging proposal that Prime Minister Netahyahu has now accepted, and then to engage with everyone else on making sure that we have clear understandings of how each party would actually implement the commitments that it’s undertake in this agreement,” Blinken said in Jerusalem.
Blinken has been told repeatedly by Hamas that will not accept any bridging proposal that doesn’t include a permanent ceasefire and removal of all Israeli troops from the Gaza Strip. So, unless there’s some dramatic change-of-heart by Hamas, it’s doubtful Blinken has a deal for Biden’s big night at the DNC. Biden and Blinken know that they’re negotiating with a terror organization, the equivalent of a criminal gang or outlaw group, not generally trusted for state-of-state negotiations. Blinken calls it a last ditch deal to emphasize that there may not be any chance to rein in the cycle of violence orchestrated by Iran that has been threatening retaliation against Israel for the July 31 assassination of 62-year-old Hamas leader-in-exile Ismail Haniyeh. Haniyeh was also involved in the planning and orchestration of the Oct. 7, 2023 Holocaust like atrocity in Israel near the Gaza border.
Netahyahu declared war on Hamas Oct. 8 after the deadly attack that Hamas considers part of its resistance of Israeli occupation. Hamas was founded by Sheikh Ahmed Yassin in 1987 to serve as the military-enforcer wing of the Palestine Liberation Organization, founded in 1964 by Yasser Arafat. Arafat went to his grave Nov. 11, 2004, most likely poisoned by Hamas, because of his attempts to make peace with Israel. Biden, Blinken and Netanyahu know that if Hamas has any life in its terror group, it would repeat the same massacre when giving the opportunity. Former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon returned the Gaza Strip to Palestinians in 2005, after 38-years of Israeli control after the 1967 Six-Day-War. Arafat tried to destroy Israel in 1967 with six other Arab states, all wiped out, prompting Israel to annex Egypt’s Gaza Strip and Sinai Peninsula, Jordan’s West Bank and East Jerusalem and Syria’s Golan Heights.
Since the 1967 Six-Day-War, Arafat tried on several occasions to negotiate some kind of peace deal with Israel which forced Israel to return to the pre-Six-Day-War borders, something Israel could never do for security reasons. Hamas never recognized any of Arafat’s peace overtures, insisting the Jewish State must be destroyed to restore the Holy Land to Muslim control. Hamas never admits that Arabs living in the Holy Land, now calling themselves Palestinians, lived under Ottoman and British control for over 500 years but only started rioting after the U.K. deeded the British Mandate of Palestine to Israel in 1948. Hamas harbors the same anti-Semitic hatred as the Nazis but all because Israel received the British Mandate of Palestine, not Palestinians. Without the Six-Day-War, Palestinians would not have control over the Gaza Strip.
When it comes to the ceasefire agreement, Hamas knows without a permanent agreement they cannot expect to survive in Gaza. Netanyahu wants Hamas out of Gaza so Palestinians living in the Mediterranean seaside territory have a future. As long as Hamas is in control, Gaza’s wealth will be looted. Past Hamas leaders like Ismail Haniyeh, Khaled Meshaal, and Abu Marzouk all became billionaires plundering Gaza since Hamas seized it from the Ramalllah-based Palestine Authority in 2007. No Gaza donor, including the oil-rich Gulf States, can trust Hamas to manage Gaza’s donor cash. For the last 17 years, Hamas looted the Gaza Strip for its own selfish gains, never rebuilding the territory to better the lives of ordinary Palestinians. Gaza’s leader Yahya Sinwar thinks it’s an honor of Gaza citizens to die as martyrs while Hamas leaders livs like kings.
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.
