Rafah and Hamas

On Monday, May 6, in the early hours of the day, news erupted that Israel began a military operation into eastern Rafah. Many in the West discouraged this operation for months and treated it as highly controversial. A few hours after Israel started the operation, Hamas declared acceptance of a deal with Israel, and painted a picture of Israel launching an assault without justification. News outlets picked up the propagandist line promoted by Hamas and rushed to create a narrative highlighting that Hamas “accepted” a ceasefire deal but Israel “declined” and invaded Rafah anyway.

The story paints Hamas, a terrorist organization, as generous, while depicting Israel as an aggressive assaulting monster. Why is this narrative completely misleading and erroneous? What has really been happening regarding this assumed deal?

For more than two months, the Gaza war was basically on halt. Israel has faced enormous pressure to stop its military operations that have aimed—quite legitimately—to free innocent hostages and to secure its land against terrorists. In the beginning of this period, Israel was pressured to cease advancing into Rafah because, the world was told, it was the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. This reason was considered mandatory by media propagandists and Western governments that seemed to have never questioned how Hamas brutally attacked Israel on Shabbat and during a national Jewish holiday.

The pressure on Israel escalated massively when the United States began to lessen its strong support due to the election year considerations by the Biden administration. Essentially, the United States demanded that Israel stop its operation and seek a deal with Hamas. During the past two months, Israeli troops had almost done nothing militarily in Gaza, as the IDF withdrew and encamped in their initial positions. Hamas declared this a huge victory and, through its sympathizers in the West, successfully created chaos in educational institutions, thus galvanizing nations to pressure Israel more and more. This is evident in how Biden, in a very bad move, recently yielded and paused weapons shipments to Israel.

Israel has been waiting for a deal with Hamas, brokered primarily under the U.S. patronage, but nothing happened. Why?

Because the Biden administration does not seem to understand the game Hamas has been playing, as it deploys the “humanitarian” crisis for its advantage and takes advantage of the fact that this year is politically crucial for Biden in order to milk his administration to the maximum benefit. There will likely be no deal at all, as Hamas demands the complete stopping of the war—a notion that Israel cannot and shouldn’t accept.

But the West is missing many important points in this dilemma. Here are the big three points.

First, as long as Hamas remains in the picture, there will be no peace in the region. What many fail to recognize is that Hamas doesn’t support a two-state solution at all and wants the complete annihilation of Israel. This is why Hamas must be finished, and this can never happen without military force. In fact, the Palestinian Authority itself is in severe disagreement with Hamas and its agenda. Without the defeat of Hamas, there is no hope at all in this dark situation.

Second, Rafah is the last stronghold for the terrorists in Gaza. This coastal city has at least four mighty battalions of Hamas and, under its tunnels there are “thousands of Hamas fighters.” While several Western nations and the United States have discouraged any attack on Rafah—mainly citing humanitarian reasons—in reality there can be no crippling of Hamas without controlling Rafah. This is why Hamas deployed all its might to galvanize international momentum to pressure Israel to stay away.

Third, the strategy of negotiating with Hamas is fanciful and will by no means succeed. In the Middle East, the only useful language is force, might, and power. Both Hamas and Israel know this fact quite well. Israel knows that because that’s where it exists, surrounded by many nations devoted to its annihilation. Hamas appeases the West by presenting itself as the victim in a situation largely misinterpreted through oppressor-victim paradigm, placing the terrorists as victims. Meanwhile, Hamas and its terrorists use humans—both Israelis and Palestinians—as shields to protect its fighters and their evil agenda.

It is plausible to assume that very few of the innocent Israeli hostages are still alive. Hamas bears full responsibility for the hostages and their safety, and should return them all, immediately. The United States should continue supporting Israel until Hamas is finished.

Don’t forget Oct. 7 and don’t yield to the demands of terrorists.