When the US envoy to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield raised her hand to abstain and thus permit an anti-Israel Security Council resolution, she may or may not have been aware that her vote sent a clear message to the Hamas leadership that they no longer needed to concern themselves with releasing hostages nor, for that matter, the threat of an IDF invasion of their final stronghold in Rafah.
On Tuesday morning, following the UNSC vote, Hamas rejected the US-brokered hostage release and prisoner exchange deal that included, in its first phase, the release of five Hamas prisoners, including those with Jewish blood on their hands, in exchange for the release of each female soldier – 40 soldiers, 200 terrorists. It ain’t happening.
The Hamas official statement following the UNSC resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire, the release of hostages but not as a condition of the ceasefire, and “the urgent need to expand the flow” of aid into Gaza, read:
“The Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas welcomes today’s call by the UN Security Council for an immediate ceasefire. We emphasize the necessity of reaching a permanent ceasefire that leads to the withdrawal of all Zionist forces from the Gaza Strip and the return of displaced persons to their homes from which they were forced out.”
Hamas then stated it was ready to exchange prisoners immediately, but the terms have changed: “We stress the importance of freedom of movement for Palestinian citizens and the entry of all humanitarian needs for all residents, in all areas of the Gaza Strip, including heavy equipment.” That last part about the heavy equipment was not meant to restart the digging of terrorist tunnels, God forbid, but merely “to remove rubble, so we can bury our martyrs who have been under the rubble for months.”
??? HAMAS OFFICIAL STATEMENT on UN CEASEFIRE Resolution:
“In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
The Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas welcomes today’s call by the UN Security Council for an immediate ceasefire. We emphasize the necessity of reaching a… pic.twitter.com/nTCozDW2Ue
— Jackson Hinkle ?? (@jacksonhinklle) March 25, 2024
But here is the part that shows Hamas has learned its lesson. It declared: “Hamas calls on the Security Council to pressure the occupation to comply with the ceasefire and to stop the genocide war and ethnic cleansing against our people.”
And 14 UNSC members will happily raise their hands again to support all of the above, and the US will continue to abuse its “greatest ally,” using its UNSC vote as a permanent threat should the IDF dare go into Rafah.
Mind you, if the IDF does not go into Rafah, Hamas has won the war. Hamas knows it, Israel knows it, the whole world knows it, and, naturally, President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken know it. Israel’s friends and enemies don’t want it to eliminate Hamas.
But wait, there are more lessons Hamas has learned in such a short time. Here goes: “Hamas reaffirms the right of our Palestinian people to establish their independent, sovereign Palestinian state with Al-Quds as its capital, and the right to return, self-determination, in accordance with international resolutions and international law.”
The path to a terrorist Palestinian State on either side of the Jewish State always was, and always will be killing Jews. This is not some right-winger’s nightmarish fantasy, it’s as real as the oily smoke emanating from the crematoria chimneys in Auschwitz.
If Israel is a life-loving country, it must attack Rafah at once. It should have carpet-bombed Gaza back on the night between October 7 and 8. By now, the Gaza Strip should have been nothing but toppled buildings and dead Gazans.
Mr. Netanyahu, before it’s too late, invade Rafah, and kill the remnants of the monstrous Hamas leadership. Your entire country is with you, even those who can’t stand you.
