The failure of the international community to maintain a continuing drumbeat for Hamas’s unilateral release of the hostages it kidnapped on Oct. 7, enabled the terrorist group and likely means that the new Trump peace plan – which calls for Hamas to disarm and have no future role in a post-war Gaza – won’t succeed.
The acquiescence in Hamas’s use of the hostages as bargaining chips legitimized for many the terrorist group’s demand for a seat at the bargaining table, not as supplicants but with something of value to trade and fairly guaranteed that they would not volitionally lay down their arms or relinquish political power. Indeed, thus invested, it is counterintuitive to think that they would.
In fact, it is also quite likely that there will be endless negotiations before the agreement is even nominally finalized with Hamas being encouraged in its recalcitrance by the curious but blatant double standard in play.
Thus, one widely made anti-Israel argument is that its alleged withholding or conditioning aid to Gaza as part of its war against Hamas amounts to collective punishment because it impacts negatively on the innocent as well as the guilty. But the thing is, the same collective punishment argument has not been directed at Hamas where it actually does apply.
Yet if it is collective punishment to withhold aid to the civilian population of an enemy in the middle of a war precipitated by that enemy’s killing, mutilating, sexually assaulting and kidnapping innocent Israeli civilians, as Hamas did in order to achieve political goals, how did it not draw the collective punishment censure?
So why shouldn’t Hamas’s leadership anticipate that it will get a pass no matter how much it fails to cooperate in reaching agreements or even comply with what they agreed to? Put another way, if they only have but to wait until the momentum goes their way, why should they be serious now?
Hamas’s goal now is to ensure its survival as a political and military force and that it is in charge of the Palestinian world. Both President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu understand this. However, let’s hope they do not get blind-sided by the prospect of a possibly successful outcome.
As the old real estate adage had it, “Never fall in love with a property. Make sure to check the rent rolls.”