Hamas just again showed its true colors, rejecting Israel’s proposal for a two-month ceasefire and the release of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for freeing Israeli hostages.
Meanwhile, the IDF is taking more casualties in order to shield ordinary Gazans, while President Biden is pushing a fantasy of a peace deal.
On Monday, Israel suffered its deadliest day since Oct. 7 when 24 soldiers were killed in Gaza.
The relatively high toll stems from Israel’s new approach: Rather than wage wide-scale aerial bombings, it’s relying on ground attacks, more narrowly targeted, to dig out for Hamas terrorists.
That’s also an effort to limit civilian casualties; weekly Gazan deaths have now fallen by two-thirds since the war’s start, per Hamas health officials.
That is: Israel is sacrificing its soldiers to protect Palestinian civilians, even as Hamas insists it has zero responsibility for Gazans’ safety.
Oh, and proving the absurdity of Biden’s calls for a two-state solution to end the war, as Hamas chief Khaled Mashal just vowed that the terror group will never accept any deal that leaves Israel intact.
“We reject this notion” of a two-state solution, as Palestinians would have to “recognize the legitimacy of . . . the Zionist entity,” Mashal said, arguing that Hamas’ 10/7 massacre proves it can destroy Israel.
That view is reflected well beyond Hamas: Polls show Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank also oppose any two-state solution that meets Israel’s security needs.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (and most Israelis) also reject a Palestinian state any time soon, because such an entity is all too likely to become a launching pad for more attacks, Oct. 7 repeated endlessly.
Yet Team Biden won’t let the idea go.
The prez suggests a “revitalized” Palestinian Authority could run Gaza as well as the West Bank, but neither Israelis nor Palestinians think that’s possible, given the PA’s corruption, ineptitude and unpopularity.
Indeed, polls suggest Hamas would handily defeat the PA’s leaders if elections were held today.
Which leaves Israel no choice but to eradicate the terror group and insist on “full Israeli security control over all the territory west of the Jordan [River],” as Bibi puts it.
The first, necessary step to peace is wiping this scourge from the face of the earth.
