Hamas Tells Witkoff the Ceasefire Is Over and It’s Ready to Fight – PJ Media

To the surprise of no sentient being on planet Earth, Hamas has declared that it is about to end the ceasefire in Gaza and go back to trying to murder Israeli civilians and destroy the Jewish state.

The Jerusalem Post reported Saturday that “amid Hamas attempts to breach Gaza’s Yellow Line and subsequent IDF activities to thwart the terrorists, Hamas warned US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff that it could end the ceasefire in Gaza.” 

Actually, there doesn’t seem to be any genuine uncertainty about Hamas’ plans. The Saudi publication Al Arabiya reported that “the agreement is over and [Hamas] is ready to fight,” which is not surprising to anyone who is familiar with what the group’s real goals are, and how it viewed the ceasefire from the beginning.

Hamas is, first and foremost, an Islamic group. Its founding 1988 charter bears this epigraph from Hasan al-Banna, the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood: “Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it.” Nothing there about coexisting side-by-side in peace with the Jewish state. Nor does it say anything about social justice warriors obliterating Israel, or forcing it to make peace. Instead, it says Islam will ultimately obliterate Israel.

This reflects the Islamic doctrine that any land that Islamic law once ruled belongs by right to the Muslims forever, and the warriors of jihad must “drive them out from where they drove you out.” (Qur’an 2:191) If, however, those jihadis are losing, then they can ask the infidels for a ceasefire. A manual of Islamic law states: “If Muslims are weak, a truce may be made for ten years if necessary, for the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) made a truce with the Quraysh for that long, as is related by Abu Dawud.” (Reliance of the Traveller, o9.16)

That made the resumption of hostilities inevitable. As soon as Hamas thought it had gathered enough strength to fight again, it would cast aside the agreement, and that appears to be just what it is doing now. Characteristically, however, Hamas is casting its breaking of the ceasefire as a response to Israeli provocations. An unnamed American source stated that “Hamas has not given up yet, but has made it clear that it will not be able to accept any more Israeli attacks. Gaza will not be Lebanon for them, and I hope we can contain the situation.”

Israel was only responding to earlier Hamas breaches of the agreement, as another source acknowledged: “The US is aware of the Israeli attacks and certainly understands Israel’s need to protect its soldiers in Gaza after they were attacked. Hamas told us, ‘It is better for us to fight and let a thousand be killed by fire under Israeli attacks than by inaction.'” 

In reality, Hamas hasn’t been inactive at all. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced Saturday: “Today, Hamas violated the ceasefire again, sending a terrorist into Israel held territory to attack IDF soldiers. In response, Israel eliminated five senior Hamas terrorists. Israel has fully honored the ceasefire, Hamas has not. Throughout the ceasefire, dozens of Hamas terrorists have crossed the Israeli lines to attack our troops, while they execute Palestinian civilians in Gaza.”

Related: Gazans Celebrate Peace Deal with a Chant That Should Raise Eyebrows, But Won’t

Netanyahu’s office demanded that Hamas abide by the terms of the ceasefire, “noting that the terror group must complete the return of the hostages, three of whom remain in Gaza,” and adding that Hamas “must also finish disarming and allow for Gaza to be demilitarized.” It seems much more likely, however, that Hamas will simply resume hostilities. The ceasefire has given it the time it needed to regroup.

And so now it’s back to the jihad. The Qur’an tells Muslims to “fight them until persecution is no more, and religion is all for Allah.” (8:39) As long as some people exist whose religion is not “all for Allah,” even if they are minding their own business and not hurting anyone, there will be some warriors of Allah who believe that they have a divine command to fight them. No negotiated agreements will bring that imperative to an end.