President Joe Biden, 81, expressed both relief and reservations about the Hamas hostage exchange that resulted initially in 13 Israelis, 10 Thai captives and one from Philippines. Without admitting it, Biden knows that Hamas is a brutal terror group, an outlaw group that has its hooks in Gaza, looting the tiny Mediterreanean seaside strip that holds 2.3 million Palestinians, most of whom poor, barely able to survive. Yet Hamas officials live in luxury, wanting for nothing in tunnels and other undisclosed locations in Gaza. Hamas leaders in exile Ismail Haniyeh, who particpated with Qatar in the negotiations, and Khaled Meshaal are rumored to be worth billions, all plundered from Gaza’s coffers. Hamas gets its cash from oil-rich Gulf States who’ve contributed over $100 billion in 17 years, all of which was trashed with Hamas starting a new war with Israel.
Gaza is now in ruins after six weeks of unrelenting Israeli bombing, primarily to rid the Gaza Strip of Hamas. U.S. and Israeli officials know that there can be no economic progress in Gaza until Hamas leaves densely packed territory. “Today has been a product of a lot of hard work and weeks of personal engagement,” Biden said from Nantucket Island on vacation with his family. “From the moment Hamas kidnapped these people, I along with my team, have worked around the clock to secure their release,” Biden said. “I don’t trust Hams to do anything right,” Biden admitted. “I only trust Hamas to respond to pressure,” Biden said, implying he won’t pressure Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to end the six-week old conflict. Biden knows that if Hamas doesn’t leave Gaza, the operation will have been a failure. Biden believes a new sovereign government must take over.
Whatever the quid pro quo, exchanging 50 hostages for 150 jailed Palestinians, Hamas got the better of the deal by a factor of three. Yet Israel was forced to suspend its military operations bringing needed supplies, including food, medicine and fuel, into Gaza for civilian use but no doubt will wind up in Hamas hands to run its generators in its vast underground tunnel network. Whether Hamas meets its terms of the bargain is anyone’s guess. Expecting 100 trucks filled with fuel, food medicine and cooking gas is expected to arrive in Gaza during its five day pause in fighting. After slaughtering 1,200 Israelis and others Oct. 7, Hamas took hostages as their best insurance policy to stay in power. Whatever hostages get released now, there’s no telling how much Hamas will up the ante as things go forward. Hamas has nowhere to go other than staying put in Gaza to run the beleaguered territory.
Biden can’t talk of much success unless Hamas agrees to an exile deal, affording them safe passage to some other Islamic country. Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon, home to thousands of Palestinian refugees, want no part more Palestinian refugees, especially political exiles from Hamas. To complete the job, Netanyahu will have to order the Israeli army to scour Hamas’ vast tunnel network to clean out any remaining terrorist nests. Biden has no idea when more Americans would be released, knowing that the cost of releasing future hostages could get more expensive. “All of these hostages have been through a terrible ordeal. And this is the beginning of a long journey of healing for them,” Biden said, knowing that the heavy lifting is just beginning to get out another 200 U.S. and Israeli hostages. No one knows what the hostages have gone through in the six weeks.
Biden faces unrelenting pressure from his party’s left wing, demanding an immediate ceasefire, which would almost certainly leave Hamas in power. Biden admitted that Hamas only responds to pressure, meaning Israel must keep up its relentless bombing. Biden said he’s talked with Netanyahu about minimizing civilian casualties in Gaza while the IDF continues its mission of getting rid of Hamas. Biden said Netanyahu assured him that Israel will “focus of trying to reduce the number causalities while it continues its military operations.” Biden gave no indication that he was about to pressure Netanyahu to end the war with Hamas until they agree to leave the Gaza Strip. Hamas must vacate Gaza for the Israeli War to be successful. So far, there’s no indication that Hamas is going anywhere other than back into the same tunnels shielding them for a relentless Israeli assault.
Biden knows that only relentless military pressure can make progress getting rid of Hamas in Gaza. Hamas has nowhere to go other than digging into Gaza. Unless Hamas gets security guarantees from another Islamic state, they have no choice but to dig into their tunnels to fight another day. Leaving Gaza is currently unthinkable for Hamas terrorists, knowing their own safe haven is the military tunnels under Gaza. Left wing activists, led by 33-year-old Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), won’t stop in opposition to Israel’s war against Hamas. “I think that’s a worthwhile thought,” Bdien told reporters.? “But I don’t think if I started off that we would have started off with that we wouldn’t ever gotten to where we get today, We have to take this a piece at a time,” Biden said. Biden knows that with Hamas holding 200 more hostages, they’re still calling the shots.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnsit.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
