Joe Biden’s Ceasefire Proposal: Why It Won’t Work with Hamas

“We await the reply from Hamas,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken mentioned of the group’s  anticipated response to President Biden’s ceasefire proposal for Gaza, “and that can communicate volumes about what they need, what they’re in search of, who they’re taking care of.

“Are they taking care of one man who could also be pronounced protected…” Blinken mentioned of Yahya Sinwar, Hamas’s chief in Gaza who deliberate the group’s barbaric slaughter of 1,200 Israelis on October 7, ”whereas the people who he purports to symbolize proceed to endure in a crossfire of his personal making? Or will he do what’s essential to… assist finish the struggling of individuals, to assist carry actual safety to Israelis and Palestinians alike?”

Did we actually have to await Hamas’ response? Do we actually wonder if Sinwar – who’s hiding in Hamas’ tunnels in Gaza, reportedly shielded by a few of its hostages – would ever put an finish to Palestinian “struggling” and the onset of “actual safety to Israelis and Palestinians” earlier than himself and his ruthless agenda? Should we slavishly pull on the presumed heartstrings of somebody with blood on his arms and genocidal intent on his thoughts?

Blinken’s questions on Hamas, which he aired after the United Nations Safety Council voted 14-0 for Biden’s ceasefire proposal, are rooted in… what? Hopeless naivety? Willful blindness? Or maybe what I wish to name “Western-ism” – an assumption that others around the globe assume like we do, share our Enlightenment-based values, and, in fact, favor life over dying.

The U.S. proposal holds no promise, for it rests on false assumptions. It presumes the potential of profitable negotiations between a democratic authorities that’s dedicated to stopping one other October 7-like slaughter by destroying Hamas, and a terrorist group that vows extra such assaults till it destroys the Jewish state.

As I’ve argued, these in search of extra peace and fewer dying over the long run ought to assist Israeli efforts to destroy Hamas as soon as and for all – lest we’re compelled to endure extra rounds of terrorist assault, Israeli counterattack, and the deaths of harmless Palestinians who’re purposely put within the crossfire.

For now, let’s give attention to the misbegotten proposal at hand.

It might unfold in three phases: first, a brief ceasefire that will final six weeks; second, a everlasting “cessation of hostilities;” and third, a rebuilding of Gaza – with, at completely different levels, an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, the return of Palestinians to their properties inside the strip, extra humanitarian support, the liberty of all hostages, and the discharge of some Palestinian prisoners in Israel.

Good luck with that. On one hand, the proposal wouldn’t put Hamas completely out of enterprise, which makes it a non-starter for Israel. However, it will “not permit Hamas to re-arm,” which makes it a non-starter for a terrorist group that – together with its state sponsor in Tehran and fellow terrorist teams within the Iranian-directed “axis of resistance” – appears emboldened by October 7.

“Hamas says it needs a ceasefire,” Biden mentioned in outlining the proposal. “This deal is a chance to show whether or not they actually imply it.”

After all Hamas needs a ceasefire (although solely a brief one)! It needs to regroup and rearm whereas it’s not topic to Israeli gunfire. What it doesn’t need – and what it’s made clear it would by no means settle for – is the everlasting “cessation of hostilities,” and its personal defenestration, which the proposal envisions.

As for the notion that Hamas may care in regards to the 2.1 million Palestinians it guidelines in Gaza, Blinken’s public problem got here simply because the Wall Road Journal was documenting what anybody with clear eyes can see – that Sinwar and different Hamas leaders purposely put harmless Palestinians in hurt’s method to enhance civilian dying totals and, in flip, topic Israel to extra world opprobrium.

The Journal reviewed dozens of personal communications from Sinwar and reported that in a message to Hamas leaders in Doha, he “cited civilian losses in national-liberation conflicts in locations similar to Algeria, the place a whole bunch of 1000’s of individuals died combating for independence from France, saying, ‘these are vital sacrifices.’”

After Israel killed three grownup sons of Hamas political chief Ismael Haniyeh in early April, Sinwar reassured him in a letter that these and different Palestinian deaths would “infuse life into the veins of this nation, prompting it to rise to its glory and honor.”

No dreamy proposal for everlasting peace can change a harsh actuality: Israel stays traumatized by October 7, and its authorities vows to do no matter it takes to forestall one other one; in the meantime, an emboldened Hamas stays dedicated to Israel’s destruction and completely satisfied to deal with Palestinians like cannon fodder.

Those that select to disregard that actuality are destined for extra disappointment as they search to impose peace from afar.

Concerning the Writer

Lawrence J. Haas is a senior fellow on the American International Coverage Council and the creator of, most lately, The Kennedys within the World: How Jack, Bobby, and Ted Remade America’s Empire (Potomac Books).