Iran's Gaza War: Ceasefire? What Ceasefire?
by Bassam Tawil • August 19, 2024 at 5:00 am
Hamas is now in dire need of a ceasefire because its leaders want to hold on to power in the Gaza Strip.
If the Biden-Harris administration and its Iranian, Qatari and Egyptian allies manage to impose a ceasefire on Israel, it will be viewed by many Arabs and Muslims not only as a reward for the October 7 massacres, but specifically as a lifeline for Hamas.
Hamas officials, however, were more honest than the Americans, Egyptians and Qataris. These officials were quick to deny any progress in the ceasefire talks and described them as "a waste of time."
According to reports, Hamas has demanded that the Israeli army completely withdraw from the Philadelphi Corridor between the Gaza Strip and Egypt. Until recently, Hamas maintained exclusive control over the border, which allowed it to smuggle weapons and ammunition into the Gaza Strip over the past two decades.
Hamas, in addition, insists on releasing the Israeli hostages in phases. It clearly wants to hold on to as many hostages as possible as an "insurance policy" to avoid being targeted by Israel in the future. Hamas apparently wants the negotiations over the hostages to continue forever, so it can use the time to rebuild its terror infrastructure and prepare for more attacks on Israel.
In Israel, meanwhile, the plight of the hostages has been hijacked by the political rivals of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. They are inciting the families of the abductees to demand a deal with Hamas at any cost, including surrendering to Hamas to end the war, and a full Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.
[I]f Israel is forced to relinquish control of the Philadelphi Corridor, it will effectively lose the war. Such a move would mean a return to the pre-October 7 era, when Hamas and other Iran-backed terror proxies controlled the border with Egypt and used it to smuggle weapons and ammunition into the Gaza Strip.
A ceasefire now will just allow Hamas to regroup, rearm and prepare for more attacks against Israel. A ceasefire does not mean that Hamas would abandon its plan to eliminate Israel and replace it with an Islamist state.
The Biden-Harris administration is, sadly, dead wrong if it believes that a ceasefire will open the door to security and stability in the Middle East. A ceasefire would simply give the Iranian regime and its terrorist allies more confidence, especially when they have nuclear weapons, to pursue their Jihad (holy war) against the Jews and Israel, and then their neighbors in the Gulf.
On October 7, 2023, the Iran-backed Palestinian terrorist group Hamas, along with thousands of "ordinary" Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, invaded Israel. While chanting "Allahu Akbar" ("Allah is the greatest"), they tortured, abused, raped, burned and beheaded, murdering more than 1,200 Israelis, including women, children and babies. They also kidnapped more than 240 Israelis to the Gaza Strip.
More than 10 months after the Hamas-led atrocities, the Biden administration is continuing to exert pressure on Israel to agree to a ceasefire with Hamas. Bizarrely, the Biden administration is working with Hamas's friends in Qatar and Egypt to force Israel to make concessions to the Hamas murderers and rapists, including ending the war against the terror group and abandoning control over the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt.
Qatar is the only Arab country that has long been hosting and supporting most of the Hamas leaders.
