Since agreeing to, and partially carrying out, a cease fire and return of Israeli hostages, Hamas has resumed its reign of terror in Gaza, with a series of public executions of political foes. President Trump is unhappy. He told reporters today that “They will disarm or we will disarm them.”
The New York Post’s editorial board has questions:
“We do not need to limit ourselves to the Israeli terms and definitions related to weapons,” taunts Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem; back on Friday, the three main Gaza terror groups issued a joint statement flat-out rejecting any “foreign guardianship” over Gaza.
Which is what Trump’s 20-point plan provides for.
President Donald Trump is furious: Hamas is “going to disarm, because they said they were going to disarm,” he roared, “and if they don’t disarm, we will disarm them” — and “violently,” if need be.
But does that mean waiting the weeks or months for the planned International Stabilization Force to get created, or having Israel immediately go back into the parts of Gaza it just left?
It is hard to imagine the Israelis, having finally recovered the few hostages that were left alive, plunging back into the fray. As for the entirely hypothetical international force comprised of Islamic countries–not to be overly cynical–I will believe it when I see it.
On Day Two, the cease-fire was already in doubt: Israel has ordered the Rafah crossing kept closed and humanitarian aid cut in half until Hamas delivers the 24 deceased hostages it failed to hand back.
“The job IS NOT DONE,” Trump noted on Truth Social.
“THE DEAD HAVE NOT BEEN RETURNED, AS PROMISED!”
The question remains: Who is going to save innocent Gazans from Hamas by going in to disarm or eliminate the terrorists?
Will any of the world leaders who basked in Trump’s limelight on Monday lift a finger to help?
I think there is no chance of American soldiers being dispatched to Gaza. But who else, apart from the Israelis, is up to the job?
It’s plainly going to need some serious urban-warfare veterans if Hamas refuses to go quietly — and a unified command structure if it’s to avoid a Blackhawk Down disaster.
Trump says that if Hamas doesn’t disarm, “we will disarm them.” If he means us–the United States–I seriously doubt it. The only plausible candidate, it seems to me, is the Israelis. But with no compelling objective immediately in sight, it is hard to see why they would re-start the war that finally ended a few days ago. For the near future, at least, the people of Gaza will continue to get what they signed up for when they elected Hamas to lead them.
