Posted on 07/15/2014 4:47:21 PM PDT by Star Traveler
The celebrations in Israel Tuesday morning over the Egyptian ceasefire initiative were premature. Contrary to the assessment of all manner of eminent Israeli notables, Hamas is not sufficiently weakened to accept an immediate ceasefire that meets none of its demands. Far from it. As Hamas made clear in the course of a rocket-filled Tuesday, it doesn’t give a damn about Egypt or Arab public opinion, and it is continuing on its own path, one of escalation.
You can say a lot to Hamas’s detriment in its handling of this conflict: It was wrong to enter this round of hostilities and it is acting hastily and even idiotically; it underestimated the resilience of the Israel home front and the capabilities of Iron Dome and of Israeli intelligence. But one thing must be acknowledged: It is determined and, to use IDF parlance, focused on seeing its mission through. It’s forces are still standing, and it is emphatically still standing by the demands it issued on the second day of this conflict, with no signs of flexibility. But that determination is likely to bring down disaster upon Gaza, and upon Hamas.
It faced a tough dilemma on Tuesday — a choice between accepting a proposal that did not meet its ceasefire demands but would ensure its survival, on the one hand, or rejecting the Egyptian offer and risking international and Arab isolation, a real threat to its future control of Gaza, and hundreds of deaths, on the other. As is so often the case, jihadism and “resistance” prevailed over governance and firm control. Or, as Hamas parliamentarian Mushir al-Masri put it, Hamas not only rejected the ceasefire, but made plain it was ready to fight to the last of its soldiers.
(Excerpt) Read more at timesofisrael.com ...
Only if Egypt starts to agree with Hamas that it’s okay for their affiliated terrorists to kill Egyptians in the Sinai and elsewhere. Thanks Star Traveler.
Hamas knows that they’ve already won the battle of public opinion and media sympathy. Almost ALL ‘news’ coverage is heavily slanted towards the Palestinian side. Likewise, with the trendy new Anti-Semitism that’s all through western society, courtesy of IAW and BDS on every college campus, no matter what the Jews do, short of surrendering to Hamas and vacating the entirety of Israel, they have already been branded as genocidal oppressors.
Wonder if Hamas will run out of Gaza before Israel runs out of munitions.
And exactly what are the Hamas demands?
Hamas knows they have the media on their side and eating out of their hand..they can show photos of dead people from two years ago in Syria and the media will believe those same people died now
Well, those demands probably change all the time, but I did read some recent ones, and this might not be the complete list either ... that the southern border crossing be opened up, that Israel release the recently re-arrested terrorists (from the 1000-to-1 swap, about 50 of them), that Israel end the embargo of Gaza and a few others I can’t remember right now.
However, we all know that demands are one thing and what you get are another ... :-) ...
Agreed... And assuming your premise is correct, then Israel has absolutely nothing ELSE to lose...
The non-stop bombing should begin closely followed by ground forces to clean up what is left...
EVERY LIVING THING!
Better to be feared in this situation...
Time is all Hamas has, because they will never attain eternity.
You overestimate Hamas' position here by a great deal.
Hamas has been unpopular and weak and have lost many of their benefactors. The "unity" government they recently joined with the PA saw them as a junior partner with little to no real representation - and even this was done out of weakness.
Hamas is unpopular with their own people in Gaza because they've failed miserably at governing. They've not only lost their ally, the Muslim Brotherhood, in Egypt - they've gained an enemy with the new al-Sisi led Egyptian military regime. It in fact is very possible Egypt and Israel are coordinating to some extent as they both share the same goal of weakening Hamas. This government has also cut off most of their supply lines from Egypt into Gaza. Worse for Hamas, they sided with the Syrian opposition which pissed off their sponsor Iran who in turn cut off some of their funding.
Hamas is largely a paper tiger at this point. Most of its rockets are unguided WW2 era kaytusha clones whose value decrease by the day as Israeli's realize they are more an annoyance than a dire threat. Hamas has been unable to conduct any successful military operations to date, every attempt having been thwarted. They've managed to kill 1 Israeli with a mortar, and in exchange for that their strength has likely already been degraded by half.
Things aren't necessarily what they seem. To the extent that Hamas survives is likely Israeli reluctance to see Gaza slide into total chaos since Hamas is the party responsible for services, etc. From the Israeli (and Egyptian) point of view, degrading and humiliating Hamas to some level they've determined most beneficial is probably the real calculation here.
I agree things are often not what they seem—especially in the Middle East. Also think that the antics of ISIS have cooled off a lot of the Jihadi sympathizers.
Hope your view is the correct one.
You said ... “... they have already been branded as genocidal oppressors.”
Now the odd thing about “that” is that while we KNOW that Israel is not a “genocidal oppressor” — there are these “faux supporters” of Israel who call on Israel to ACTUALLY BE A GENOCIDAL OPPRESSOR!!
A true supporter of Israel supports Israel when they DENY (and rightfully so) that they are genocidal oppressors — while the “faux supporters” of Israel (who seem to be paid by Islamist propagandists) urge Israel to genocidally oppress!
I just got through answering one of those “faux supporters” of Israel - right here on Free Republic, with him saying that Israel should be genocidal and should oppress!
That equation has shifted, somewhat - this time - and against Hamas. Things don’t always stay and same and Hamas is at a disadvantage right now.
Hamas will always have the media though..that they can count on
I should also note that just about every thread on Free Republic about Israel and the Palestinians (in either Gaza or Judea and Samaria) has these “faux supporters” of Israel URGING ISRAEL to BE REAL GENOCIDAL OPPRESSORS.
Sometimes a thread on Free Republic really gets going and we get about ten or more “genocidal supporters” chiming in. It never fails and you will ALWAYS get at least one.
We’ve already got one on this thread ... :-) ...
I watched a BBC news video in which a BBC reporter questioned an Israeli spokesman. Needless to say, the BBC reporter sounded like a passionate supporter of Hamas. She didn’t even try to hide her strong bias.
Indeed. As you say, especially in the Middle East. Israel is in a precarious position, but so are many of the governments and movements there. Israel also works, behind the scenes, with many of the regional governments far more than people realize. The new government in Egypt that overthrew the Obama supported Muslim Brotherhood has been a godsend. It is very likely that Egypt and Israel are coordinating very closely at this moment since they both share the goal of weakening Hamas. Jordan's very survival is at stake and they have increased cooperation with the US and quietly Israel too. The Gulf states are duplicitous in the extreme, but probably work with Israel in efforts to slow the Iranian nuclear program.
Many people don't realize that the roughly 500 million dollars a year we send to prop up the Palestinian Authority is something Israel doesn't want to see cut off. That's why it surprised many when AIPAC opposed Rand Paul's effort to end that support (even after Hamas was brought in as a junior partner in the unity government). That US Aid effectively keeps the Palestinian governed areas from falling apart, trains their police, etc. Why is that good for Israel? Because Israel doesn't want a power vacuum in either Gaza or the West Bank. And they don't want to pay for that themselves. The devil they know may well be better than the one that follows. Further, when we bankroll the PA, their corrupt government relies on us for money to fund a cushy life for their leaders.
Again, nothing is as it seems in that region of the world.
Some idiots refuse to believe that Muslims don’t want to “Co-exist” with them. Only one solution exists. Muslims out. Every last one. Mecca is their home not “Ir Ha Kodesh”!
This gives a good background:
Why Did Hamas Launch Its Current Rocket Offensive Against Israel?
http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/8072.htm
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