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Phase 1 of the Gaza cease-fire is done; what now?
Under the original plan, Phase 2 meant talks to free the remaining hostages (basically, male Israeli soliders), resolve the future governance of Gaza and see Israel withdraw completely.
We see no way that happens unless Hamas agrees to leave Gaza entirely.
Israel must still meet its three goals: get the hostages home, destroy Hamas’ military and administrative power and ensure Gaza is never again the base for terror attacks on Israel.
It might now have a chance to accomplish that first goal — returning the hostages.
Then it can do whatever it thinks best regarding Hamas.
Example: It could agree to extend Phase 1, with more hostages freed in exchange for a delay in fighting and, perhaps, releasing Palestinian prisoners.
Hamas has so far rejected that, prompting Israel to hold up humanitarian aid.
Or, as Phase 2 envisions, it could agree to pull out of Gaza and end the war — and still decide its next move later.
Either way, once all the hostages are returned, all bets are off.
Israel would be free to pursue all its other goals. No matter what it promises.
That’s right: There’d be no moral reason to quit hunting Hamas, even via renewed full-scale war.
Hamas is a terrorist group. It strangles, burns and beheads babies. It vows to launch new attacks on Israel.
A cease-fire existed on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas invaded Israel and raped, burned, killed and kidnapped nearly 1,500 innocents.
Jerusalem can “honor” any cease-fire with Hamas the way Hamas did that earlier one.
Hamas needs to be eradicated, or at least defanged, just as al Qaeda and ISIS largely were.
The usual suspects in the “international community” may scream, but as Golda Meir famously noted, it’s better to be alive with a bad image than dead and pitied.
Hamas’ leaders surely realize all this; they’re now bent on psychological warfare to move Israeli public opinion into giving up on securing Gaza, at least for now.
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Israel is beyond justified in doing whatever it takes to make the terrorists keep up the hostage releases, whether that’s surgical strikes and clandestine warfare, re-arresting some of the criminals it released in Phase 1 or even resuming full-on military operations.
An all-out campaign, this time fully backed by a US president, would be justified.
If Hamas’ leaders don’t want to surrender power (Israel has offered generous terms) and would rather face death or capture, Israel can happily arrange that.
Hamas is essentially back in power now, with fresh new recruits. Allowing it to survive intact would only pave the way for more horror later.
If the terrorists want the cease-fire to continue, they’ll set up more hostage releases immediately, or Israel must move to destroy the group’s stranglehold for good.
That’s the only road toward lasting peace.