The trauma of the October 7 barbaric Hamas massacre of more than 1,400 Israelis has had a dramatic impact on the people of Israel. All elements in Israel agree unanimously that the Hamas terrorist entity must be totally destroyed. Israel’s response to the slaughter includes massive bombing and the call up of hundreds of thousands of reserves in preparation for a massive military campaign eventually resulting in the unconditional surrender of whatever remains of Hamas.
Hamas supporters around the world who are clamoring for Israel to be “Humanitarian” and to respect the laws of warfare forget that Hamas never has and never will honor international humanitarian law.
To end the illegal Hamas strategy of using civilians as shields the UN and other concerned organizations and countries should demand that Hamas surrender unconditionally now. Using civilians as human shields, a clear war crime, will not succeed.
Hamas behavior should be of no surprise based on its history. When Hamas took power in 2007, they had no hesitation when they threw their enemies from the roofs of buildings. Those buildings are now being destroyed. That behavior and subsequent internal violence terrified any opposition in Gaza and should have been a clear signal of Hamas barbarism. The world should not be surprised by their total abject cruelty on October 7.
Israel is the most moral military in the world. It alerts inhabitants of target buildings to leave before the buildings and the Hamas presence is destroyed. Israel has informed the residents of north Gaza to move south before Israel destroys any and every trace of Hamas presence in north Gaza. As a humanitarian gesture Israel has agreed to allow truck convoys to arrive from Egypt with medical and other lifesaving supplies to those Gazans who obeyed its directive to move to the south.
The forthcoming Israel attack will be massive. Hamas cannot postpone the inevitable consequences of their barbaric attack.
But Hamas still has a chance to surrender unconditionally before the coming irrepressible onslaught.
In previous conflicts with Hamas, Israel had a limited objective: punish Hamas for launching rockets against civilian populations in Israel. The end game was a ceasefire and a prayer for peace, the so-called “mowing the lawn”. That strategy was proven a failure with the barbaric massacre and capture of over 200 hostages from peaceful communities and a dance festival of young people. Israel is now committed to the total obliteration of Hamas, both leaders and followers.
It is still not too late for Hamas to surrender unconditionally.
International "humanitarians," many of whom are long-time enemies of Israel, are agitated and concerned with the fate of “innocent” civilian residents used as human shields by Hamas, but ignore that Hamas was elected by a landslide and that Gazans handed out candies and celebrated the atrocities on October 7th. They also ignore Hamas' incessant bombing of innocent Israeli citizens since 2007.
World War II ended on May 8/9, 1945 with the unconditional surrender of the Third Reich of Germany. It saved the lives of many civilians and combatants. Japan on the other hand could not bring itself to surrender unconditionally for reasons of pride and arrogance. President Truman was unwilling to sacrifice the lives of additional American soldiers with a massive assault of Japan and decided to use nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Japan finally realized on September 2, 1945 that they had no choice but to surrender unconditionally.
Today Hamas should be given a choice to either surrender unconditionally or face the consequences. Unconditional surrender will resolve many of the humanitarian fears that friends and enemies of Israel are raising around the world. They all know that Israel will succeed in destroying Hamas with ongoing air and naval attacks combined with the forthcoming massive ground assault.
Israel has no choice. It must destroy Hamas for self-defense, to reassert its deterrence power internally and externally, and to give comfort to its Abraham Accords allies that they can rely on Israel against the threats from Iran and other terrorists.
When Hamas leadership decides to surrender unconditionally rather than dying in the coming battle, the hostages will be returned. The people of Gaza will be freed of the maniacal and corrupt Hamas leadership. The dream, that some had, that when Israel in 2005 withdrew from Gaza, it would become a peaceful and successful neighbor might even be realized. The borders to other countries will be opened and those who choose to remain will have the opportunity, with sane leadership, to convert Gaza into a potential Singapore or Hong Kong on the Mediterranean.
Will Hamas agree now to surrender unconditionally? Of course not. Many of their leaders and their families think they are safe in Qatar and Turkey and could not care less for the lives of their brethren. Arrogance, pride and hatred for Israel will not let them admit defeat. They may suffer from the delusion that Hezbollah and Iran will come to their rescue. If they refuse to accept an unconditional surrender, it will be clear that they are responsible for the deaths of large numbers of their fellow Arabs and the total destruction of the Strip. Nontheless, Israel should make such an offer immediately prior to the next phase.