Pausing the conflict for the last five days while hostages and prisoners are exchanged, Hamas and Qatari negotiators are busy at work trying to extend the talks for days longer, with more prisoners to come out in dribs-and-drabs. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants to resume the conflict until Hamas agrees to leave Gaza for good. Since 2007, Hamas has led the Gaza Strip after Israel pulled out in 2005. When Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon handed Gaza to Palestinians, he gave it to the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority [PA], only one year after Palestine Liberation Organization [PLO] Chairman Yasser Arafat was poisoned by Hamas. It didn’t take long for Hamas to seize Gaza by force, knowing, if they resisted, Abbas would wind up like Arafat. President Joe Biden wants to return Gaza to the PA again, knowing that it lacks the military personnel to resist Hamas.
U.S. and U.N. officials should call for Hamas to leave Gaza, giving Abbas the help he needs to govern the territory as long as it takes. Biden knows that if Hamas is still in power, they’ll repeat the same massacre of Israel, even after a major reconstruction effort that could take years to complete. Hamas has lauched four wars with Israel and several uprisings, all resulting in massive destruction to the seaside Mediterranean enclave. Oil-rich Arab Gulf States and others have spend over $100 billion over the last 17 years, all to watch Gaza destroyed for the fifth times. Gulf States, led by Saudi Arabia, have grown jaded giving Hamas billions in resources only to watch it spend cash on arms-and-tunnels, not on the kind of permanent infrastructure that would help Gaza’s people. U.N. officials should stop blaming Israel and recognize that Hamas must go.
Hamas wants to drag on the hostage/prisoner swaps as long as possible to re-arm its war with Israel. If the U.N. and Arab states wants the Gaza War to end, they need to insist the Hamas leave Gaza, finding asylum for what’s left of Hamas militants. Nentanyahu can’t stop the war because Gaza would be left with Hamas leadership leading only to death-and-destruction to Hamas residents. Negotiators in Qatar would be well-advised to take a longer-range strategy to see that Hamas no longer controls Gaza. Gaza’s beleaguered residents deserve a government that plans to use its resources to build infrastructure and a future for Gaza’s people. Gaza has no future in continuing a futile effort to topple the Israeli government. Israel has the resources to destroy Gaza or any other Arab state many times over. So Hamas’ continuous wars with Israel only feed self-serving interests.
Biden finds himself under pressure from his party’s left wing to pressure Israel into a permanent ceasefire, knowing it would harm Gaza resident to return Hamas to power. Netanyahu won’t acquiesce to outside pressure, knowing what Israel lived through Oct. 7, with the worst slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust. It wasn’t the sheer number of Jews killed, it was the way Hamas brutalized families with Nazi-like horrors. Netanyahu is committed to “never again,” a slogan after the Holocaust that Jews would not tolerate genocide ever again. So when it comes to letting Hamas back in power, Netanyahu won’t cave to Biden or U.N. pressure to end his war with Hamas. Without Hamas leaving Gaza, the same thing would happen all over again, leaving Gaza in ruins again. Netanyahu knows for Gaza to ever have a future, Hamas must not rule its 2.3 million Palestinians.
Hamas isn’t likely to give up all the hostages, trying by whatever means, to extort more cash-and-concessions from the U.S and Israel. Netanyahu faces a real choice of whether to abandon the unavoidable task of getting Hamas out of Gaza. No one can imagine after the Oct. 7 slaughter that Hamas can return to power in Gaza. Getting rid of Hamas hiding in Gaza’s labyrinth of military tunnel won’t be easy for Israel, not matter what happens to the continuing war. Biden and U.N. officials would make Israel’s work easier if they would serve notice that Hamas can no longer rule Gaza. No one has yet made that declaration even though it’s obvous to everyone. Hamas knows that its survival is on the lie, refusing to release all the hostages because they’d have no more leverage. U.S. and Quatari negotiators should find asylum agreements to get Hamas out of Gaza.
Keeping the ceasefire going is the goal of U.S. and Qatari negotiators, rather than return to Israeli bombardments. Israel can only wait and see if negotiators have the wisdom to look at the big picture: Hamasa can no longer govern Gaza. Hamas boasted after the Oct. 7 massacre how weak Israel appeared. Well, after five weeks of war with Gaza in ruins does Hams still think Israel shows weakness in the face of the latest genocide. Hamas does must decide whether it wants to inflict more damage on Gaza or bow out and live to fight another day. Perpetuating the fatashy that it will one day vanquish Israel, Hamas has done Gaza residents a disservice, plundering the territory’s resources to make billions for its leadership. When exiled Hams leader Ismail Haniyed met in Tehran with Supreme Ldear Aytalloha Ali Khaemenei he was told Hamas is on their own in Gaza.
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.
