The post-fighting demands of Hamas reveal the terrorist organization’s total misunderstanding of its plight. Numerous media outlets support the notion that a new Palestinian government will include Hamas. If anyone has been listening to Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, they would know that Israel has no intention of leaving any remnant of Hamas to govern anything.
Hamas Back in Previously Cleared Areas
Nonetheless, there is a drumbeat for Netanyahu to come up with a postwar plan for governing the Gaza Strip. The Biden administration, never passing up an opportunity to meddle, has been at the forefront of demanding a proposal for governance when the fighting in Gaza comes to an end. With skirmishes having resumed in north Gaza as Hamas terrorists and other Palestinian militia ooze back into previously cleared areas and the IDF attack into Rafah in southern Gaza, a postwar plan seems premature. The Wall Street Journal explained the complexity of Netanyahu’s position:
“[Netanyahu] appeared to be rejecting assertions by top US officials—and by his own defense minister—that Israel can’t win with force alone. A plan for postwar Gaza has been one of the sharpest points of friction between the US and Israel as the war grinds on and roils American politics ahead of the US election… Netanyahu said an attempt a few months ago to set up alternative governance for the distribution of food in Gaza with locals unaffiliated with Hamas failed because the militant group threatened and attacked some of them, deterring others from joining the initiative.”
Clearly, Israeli officials have no confidence in any Palestinian-led governance in Gaza. Add to the friction between the US and Israel the equities the Hamas terrorists believe they have in a postwar Gazan government, and the situation seen through a wider lens is a Gordian knot of epic proportions. The terrorist organization’s leadership continues to make public statements, assuming it will have a place in some future Palestinian government in Gaza. “Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh said Tuesday [May 14] that his group is open to the formation of a national unity government to run the Gaza Strip and the West Bank,” according to the Turkish news outlet Anadolu Agency.
The hubris of the Hamas leadership in thinking that there would be some form of participation in a postwar Gaza for the terrorist organization is startling. “Hamas probably sees an opportunity to exploit this war and Hamas’ relative popularity in the West Bank to expand its political control in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip,” the Institute for the Study of War reported in its Iran Update on May 17. Additionally, the proposal of a unity government is appealing – until one tries to figure out how it would work. The Fatah Party, the Palestinian Authority, and dozens of opposing factions, including the terrorist militia and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, all have separate agendas for a Palestinian future. These factions have never had a shared vision for a Palestinian state. The only view held in common among them is hatred for Israel and a desire to see the Jewish nation destroyed.
Biden Administration Continues Pushing Shortsighted Proposals
It makes the Hamas proposal ludicrous. But such absurd notions of a unity governing body for Palestinians is what the Biden administration buys into when it pushes the “two-state” solution. One state would be Israel, but what is the other state? Overlay this conundrum on Gaza, and what does a plan look like? The myopic view of the Biden administration is that an international peacekeeping force to manage Gaza when the fighting stops is the correct answer. “Biden administration officials are in preliminary ‘conversations’ about options for stabilizing postwar Gaza, including a proposal for the Pentagon to help fund either a multinational force or a Palestinian peacekeeping team,” Politico reported. Now, there’s a crackerjack idea. Put the Palestinians in charge of peacekeeping when Hamas is a Palestinian terror group. Does anyone think, besides the brain trust in the Pentagon, that putting Hamas supporters and sympathizers in place to keep the peace in Gaza is a good idea?
The views expressed are those of the author and not of any other affiliate.
