LOS ANGELES.–Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, 74, put on hold for now the Rafah ground invasion he says is necessary to neutralize remaining Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip. President Joe Biden, 81, has publicly warned Netanyahu about the dangers of a Rafah invasion because of its densely packed civilian population, estimate at 1.4 million. Many of Rafah’s civilian population escaped northern and central Gaza, after going southern Rafah to escape the ongoing war with Hamas. Israeli Defense Forces [IDF] have been tracking down 62-year-old Oct. 7 mastermind Yahya Sinwar and 58-year-old Mohammed Deif, head of Hamas military operations. Netanyahu still estimates that at least four Hamas military divisions exist in Rafah, together with Sinwar and Deif, hiding out in Hamas military tunnels deeply buried beneath Rafah. Netanyahu says Israel must move on Rafah.
Netanyahu says the mission in Gaza is not complete unless the IDF can neutralize what’s left of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s military wing led by Deif. Even if the IDF cannot locate Siwar and Deif in the tunnels below Rafah, Netanyahu thinks he cannot stop from neutralizing what’s left of Hamas’s brigades. Netanyahu has been under growing pressure to give up on any Rafah invasion, knowing the potential collateral damage from a new military incursion. “We will enter Rafah because we have no other choice. We will destroy the Hamas battalions there. We will complete all objectives of the war, including the return of our hostages,” Netanyahu said, knowing that of the remaining 130 hostages, the lion’s share might be already dead. No one knows, including Hamas, how many hostages are still alive in Hamas or Islamic Jihad custody.
Whatever the future holds for a two-state solution or eventual Mideast peace, Netanyahu cannot see any future with Hamas still in control in Gaza. Talks going in Cairo with Hamas negotiators are attempting to get a new hostage release in exchange for a six-week ceasefire. Whether or not Netanyahu would go along with such as deal is anyone’s guess. Netanyahu doesn’t see any future peace in Gaza without Hamas leaving the territory. No mention has been made of Sinwar and Deif receiving asylum deals in Qatar or some other Muslim country. Most Arab states wants no part of Sinwar or Deif with Qatar continuing to harbor ex-Hamas leaders Ismail Haniyech, Khaed Meshaal and Abu Marzouk, all billionaires from years looting the Gaza Strip over the last 17 years. No one reporting on Hamas talks in Cairo mentions anything about Haniyeh, Meshaal and Marzouk being billionaires.
Netanyahu says the IDF dismantled 18 of Hamas’s 24 battalions, with perhaps six remaining in Rafah, where Sinwar and Deif hide out in tunnels. U.S. officials say publicly that Netanyahu must do a better job assuring civilian safety if the IDF goes into Rafah. Daily reports of civilian casualties in Gaza, whether accurate or not, continues to create bad publicity for Israel. Egypt expressed concerns that an IDF military operation Rafah could drive thousands of Palestinians to seek refuge in Egypt, something opposed by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi. El-Sisis has been under the gun for years since toppling Muslim Brotherhood July 3, 2013 leader Mohammed Morsi in Cairo. Muslim Brotherhood has been gunning for El-Sisi, wanting no part of more Hamas-friendly Palestinians. U.S. and foreign media blame Israel for Egypt closing its Rafah border crossing.
U.N. officials oppose any IDF operation in Gaza, fearing more interference in humanitarian aid worsens the famine taking place in Rafah and other parts of Gaza. Any analysis of the situation in Rafah raise big risks to the civilian population with an IDF Rafah invasion. Yet there’s simply no way Israel can allow Hamas to survive in Rafah without the IDF neutralizing its military capabilities. Whether admitting it or not, All Palestinians living in Gza must get rid of Hamas to have any future. Hamas operates under its own charter of destroying Israel. It can’t form a peace deal with Israel, now or in the future. Hamas officials make unrealistic demands to returning to the pre-1967 borders, before the Six Day War. Israel won’t give up the Golan Heights or West Bank, despite recognizing it as independent Palestinian territory in Ramallah and other cities.
To avoid a Rafah invasion, Egyptians and Qataris meeting with Hamas in Cairo must persuade the Islamist group to leave Gaza and allow the U.N. to cobble together a new government. Hamas leaders have so far refused to accept exile deals, preferring to fight Israel to the death, as long as they can continue to hide in tunnels. Whatever happens to Palestinians on the surface is of no consequence to Hamas, only concerned about it’s own survival. Whatever Hamas accomplished on Oct. 7, 2023, killing 1,200 Israelis and taking 250 hostages, it’s destroyed the Gaza Strip in a pattern all too familiar to oil-rich Gulf States. No Hamas donor wants to spend billions on Gaza’s reconstruction, knowing Hamas could commit a terrorist act and destroy the Gaza Strip. If Arab states demand that Hamas leave Gaza, it could save untold numbers of Palestinian lives.
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.
