Ceasefire rejection underscores why Hamas must go
Washington Examiner
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Hamas and its Islamic Jihad allies this week rejected an Egyptian proposal for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza. This was a ringing reminder that the conflict Hamas began with its slaughter of 1,200 innocents in Israel on Oct. 7 cannot end until Hamas has been destroyed. It is a renewed reminder, too, that despite constant claims from leftist protesters in the West, it is only Hamas that prevents an end to hostilities.
Egyptian officials proposed a temporary two-week ceasefire that would have included the release of 40 hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip in exchange for the release of 120 Palestinians imprisoned in Israel. During that two-week pause, the terms of a permanent ceasefire would be negotiated that would include elections and a new Gaza government not be led by Hamas.
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“There can be no negotiations without a complete stop to the aggression,” a Hamas spokesman said, casuistically explaining the group’s rejection of the deal. “The Hamas leadership is aiming with all its might for a complete, not temporary, end to the aggression and massacres of our people.”
A permanent ceasefire with Hamas is impossible. It can come only when Hamas ceases to exist. This is a matter of simple logic, for Hamas’s reason for existence is the destruction of Israel. Its founding charter says so explicitly. It was Hamas that broke the last ceasefire when it invaded Israel, killing, raping, and kidnapping defenseless civilians. No nation would tolerate such a neighbor, and Israel should not be expected to do so.
Gaza City’s mayor, the Hamas-appointed Yahya Sarraj, made an impassioned plea last week for an immediate and permanent ceasefire, but his invocation of Gaza City’s vibrant life before Oct. 7 further demonstrates why Hamas must go. He began his plea by recalling the construction of a cultural center in Gaza City in the 1980s. Its grand hall, theater, and public library were visited by President Bill Clinton and other world leaders.
But who was in control of Gaza City when the cultural center was built? It was Israel, not Hamas. The mayor paints a picture of a thriving people, not one subjugated in the open-air prison of pro-resistance rhetoric. There is, he boasts, a world-class zoo, a new seafront with a promenade featuring businesses owned by divorced women and disabled old men.
These pleasant seaside features have been turned to rubble by Israeli bombs. “Why did the Israeli tanks destroy so many trees, electricity poles, cars and water mains?” Sarraj asks disingenuously. His question should be turned around and asked of him. If Israel was committed to inflicting suffering on Palestinians, why did it allow those electricity poles and water mains to be installed? Why did it allow the cultural center and all the new infrastructure the mayor is so proud of?
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No government wants Palestinians to live peaceful, productive lives in Gaza more than the Israeli government does. That is the opposite of what Hamas wants. Palestinians living peacefully would end the terrorists’ mission of eradicating Jews from the river to the sea. Hamas would rather Palestinians suffer death and destruction than live prosperously next to a prosperous Israel.
That is why Hamas refuses a ceasefire and must be eliminated. It wants only death to Israel and misery for Palestinians until they get it. It is achieving the latter without any hope of achieving the former.