It’s official: Israel’s expanded military operations in the Gaza Strip won’t be complete until Israeli Defense Forces “take over all the areas of the Strip,” according to a statement Monday on social media by Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu.
Calling Israel’s military actions following the Oct. 7 terror invasion a “war of civilization over barbarism,” Netanyahu reminded Hamas (and the world) that “The war can end tomorrow if the remaining hostages are released, Hamas lays down its arms, its murderous leaders are exiled and Gaza is demilitarized.”
“No nation can be expected to accept anything less and Israel certainly won’t.”
This would be a good time to remind you that Hamas’s objective on Oct. 7 was to derail Arab-Israeli peace efforts through an “extraordinary action.” That’s according to since-deceased Hamas chief, Yahya Sinwar. Hamas took hostages, murdered babies, and raped women to death for the sole purpose of committing the region to a forever war.
Israel now seeks peace by the only means left to them: the total destruction of Hamas and resuming control of the Gaza Strip.
A joint statement Monday by Britain, Canada, and France warned, “If Israel does not cease the renewed military offensive and lift its restrictions on humanitarian aid, we will take further concrete actions in response.” Jerusalem said on Sunday that Israel would allow “a basic quantity of food to be brought in” to Gaza but otherwise rebuffed those demands.
Netanyahu, according to a Wall Street Journal report, said the decision came after pressure from “Israel’s closest friends in the world.”
The story added that “the country’s backers in the U.S. Senate told him they couldn’t tolerate images of extreme hunger coming out of Gaza and that could affect their continued support.”
Israel’s friends in the U.S. Senate really ought to know better.
Any food going into Gaza is commandeered by Hamas for either its own use or to be sold to Gazans at obscene prices, as we’ve seen time and again.
The history of Gaza since Israel withdrew is Hamas thugs stealing Western aid for their personal enrichment. You didn’t think Sinwar got to be worth $3 billion selling olive oil and prayer rugs, did you?
“The terror group’s three top leaders alone are worth a staggering total of $11 billion,” the New York Post reported shortly after Oct. 7, “and enjoy a life of luxury in the sanctuary of the emirate of Qatar.” By resuming control of Gaza, Israel will put a stop to Hamas’s grand theft — everything.
Gaza wasn’t just a grifting operation for Hamas; it was a 140-square-mile terrorist enclave of underground tunnels, rocket stockpiles, and Iranian-trained fighters. That will come to an end with Israeli occupation, too.
The tragic irony is that Israel pulled out of Gaza for strategic and moral reasons that seemed correct to Ariel Sharon’s Kadima government at the time. The Oslo Accords had stalled, and Israeli military rule over a growing population of two million Arabs was increasingly untenable. It won’t become any more tenable under re-occupation.
Israel’s reward for pulling out in 2005 was an endless terror campaign, culminating in the Oct. 7 atrocities. Their reward for reoccupation will likely be another Intifada. Dispersal to Libya, if the rumors have any truth to them, is probably the best thing for both Gazans and Israelis.
Critics will accuse Israel of being an apartheid state — but they do that already. I say, “Resuming control of Gaza is a terrible idea, but what the hell else are they supposed to do?”
Recommended: Here’s the Smoking Gun: UNWRA Knew About Oct 7 in Advance
