Surprise! Hamas Has Already Doomed Peace

Only a couple of days after the announcement of President Trump’s brokered ceasefire between Hamas and Israel, Hamas has indicated that it will forever poison any chance of a durable peace. Surprise, surprise.

First, Hamas is already in violation of phase one of the deal, in which Hamas was to release ALL living and deceased hostages by the end of the day on Monday. While Hamas did release the 20 living hostages in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners, which included some 250 convicted terrorists, Hamas has yet to return all 28 of the deceased hostages, including two Americans. (RELATED: Will Hamas Blow Up Gaza Deal With Explosive Demands?)

As of this writing, Hamas has released the bodies of four hostages. Following Israel’s announcement that it viewed this as a breach of the agreement and will keep the Rafah border crossing closed as a response, Hamas announced that it will release an additional four bodies of the hostages. Assuming Hamas fulfils its promise, this still leaves 20 deceased hostages who are now past due. (RELATED: Trump in Jerusalem)

Second, there have been multiple violations of the “yellow line,” the line to which Israel has withdrawn in phase one of the deal. The IDF has maintained that “After multiple attempts to distance them, the suspects refused to comply, prompting troops to open fire to remove the threat.” (RELATED: To Bring Hostages Home, Israel Pays Very Steep Price)

Third, Hamas has pledged continued jihad against Israel. Khalil al-Hayya, a Hamas leader and part of the terrorist group’s Cairo delegation, stated this week that “The countdown to the next massacre has begun. Next time, we will slaughter all Jews.”

Additionally, merely a day after President Trump announced that a ceasefire had been reached, members of Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) have already announced that they will continue to fight. In a joint statement, the groups emphasized “our determination to continue with the resistance in all its forms until our rights are achieved — first and foremost the removal of the occupation, self determination, and the establishment of an independent state with full sovereignty with Jerusalem as its capital” [author’s emphasis].

Hamas Spokesman Hazem Qassem stated recently that the terror group will not disarm, exclaiming that “We will not be captives to Israeli terms or demands. This is one of the focal points of the struggle in the next stage, after the cessation of aggression in the Gaza Strip.”

Hamas’s refusal to disarm is also reflected in its recent, accelerated killing spree in Gaza, where it is murdering its opposition. A video has surfaced showing Hamas executing eight people as bystanders cheer on Monday, mere hours after the ceasefire agreement was signed. Hamas asserts that it is killing “criminals and collaborators with Israel,” though this accusation is unsubstantiated.

Hamas’s violent purge of Gaza hints at how the terrorist group will treat any international observers, if and when the deal progresses to that point. But will such observers get to Gaza at all? Hamas, PIJ, and PFLP have refused to cease control of Gaza, and refused to accept foreign administration of the Gaza Strip as envisioned in stage 2 of the agreement.

Rather, the groups have stated that foreign involvement should be limited to aid: “We emphasize our absolute rejection of any foreign guardianship and emphasize that determining how the Gaza Strip and its institutions are administered is an internal Palestinian matter, to be determined jointly by our people’s national elements [i.e. including the factions], with a willingness to benefit from Arab and international participation in all things concerning reconstruction, welfare, and support for development.” By emphasizing “our people’s national elements,” these groups are implying that Hamas will be a part of Gaza’s new government.

And the Palestinian Authority (the “PA”), the so-called “moderate” voice of the Palestinian government, seems to agree with these groups and embraces Hamas being a part of the new government. Granted, while facing the world, PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas stated in September that “We [the PA] are ready to assume full responsibility for governance and security there [in the Gaza Strip]. Hamas will have no role in governance.” But while facing its own people, the PA states the exact opposite.

In an issue of the Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida earlier this month, the PA stated that the preferred tactic is to hide Hamas for a year from the West in order for Hamas to rise again in Gaza: “[We] must find a way to prevent its [Hamas’s] positions and actions from being exploited again to complete the elimination of the Palestinian issue. It may be necessary to find a way to persuade Hamas to completely leave the arena for a year or two. Later, when things become clearer, we can look for ways to bring Hamas back to operation.” So even the PA wants Hamas to reign in Gaza!

All this is, of course, predictable. But Israel and the U.S. should fear not. Now that Israel has gotten back all of the living hostages, it is freer to respond to any present and future breaches by Hamas and company. This includes ceasing future withdrawals beyond the yellow line and maintaining control of some or all of what it currently holds in Gaza in perpetuity. Only with strong security guarantees and perpetual vigilance against Hamas will Israel ensure that Hamas’s ability to harm the Jewish State post October 7 remain at a minimum.

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