This is not to say that Hamas is the root cause of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and that simply strengthening the PA will suddenly turn things around. But there is no question that Hamas’s iron grip on Gaza and its appeal to many Palestinians constitute a major impediment to any workable solution.
Israel would doubtless be expected by the United States and others to concede more to the Palestinians were Hamas neutralized as a threat. And not only are the true intentions of the PA and Mr. Abbas at best suspect, the threats from Iran, Hizbullah, and ISIS would plainly remain. But all thing considered, the elimination of Hamas would be a good thing and it is unfortunate that the Cairo conference didn’t seize the moment.
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