It is never a wise thing to discount the possibility of irrational or self-defeating actions in the Middle East, but the latest from the Hamas leadership is bizarre even for them. Right now, we are nearing the end of a three day cease fire which has halted the fighting in Gaza. Hamas only agreed to the cease fire now because it had been defeated and nearly destroyed by the Israelis. According to the Israelis, they destroyed every tunnel built by Hamas of which Israel was aware. Also according to the Israelis, Hamas has only about 30% of the missile stockpiles that the terrorist group had at the start of the recent fighting. That is a loss of literally hundreds of millions of dollars of weapons and a similar amount of strategic construction work with ho corresponding success by Hamas. None of the Hamas missiles did any major damage due to Israel's Iron Dome that protected areas of major importance. The Hamas fighters used the tunnels to launch a few attacks during the war, but the end result was, at most, the death of five Israeli soldiers with the corresponding deaths of over a hundred Hamas soldiers. As the fighting continued, things actually got worse for Hamas, not better.
It is important to remember that the terms of the current cease fire are no different from the cease fire that Hamas rejected as totally unacceptable fifteen days earlier. The only thing that had changed in the interim was the destruction of Hamas's missiles and terror infrastructure.
I am going through all this background because Hamas has now announced that it will resume fighting later today unless Israel agrees to the demands of Hamas. Hamas wants all the borders opened (which would let Hamas rearm) and it also wants money so that it can pay for "reconstruction". One has to wonder if the Hamas leadership has lost their minds. Hamas loses the war badly. Now, as the defeated party, it is busy making demands for items that it knows it will not get. The alternative is war which will result in Hamas getting crushed by further blows from Israel.
There really is no one in the world (except maybe John Kerry) dumb enough to fall for this one.
It is important to remember that the terms of the current cease fire are no different from the cease fire that Hamas rejected as totally unacceptable fifteen days earlier. The only thing that had changed in the interim was the destruction of Hamas's missiles and terror infrastructure.
I am going through all this background because Hamas has now announced that it will resume fighting later today unless Israel agrees to the demands of Hamas. Hamas wants all the borders opened (which would let Hamas rearm) and it also wants money so that it can pay for "reconstruction". One has to wonder if the Hamas leadership has lost their minds. Hamas loses the war badly. Now, as the defeated party, it is busy making demands for items that it knows it will not get. The alternative is war which will result in Hamas getting crushed by further blows from Israel.
There really is no one in the world (except maybe John Kerry) dumb enough to fall for this one.
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