|
Netanyahu Warns Hamas After Child's Death
by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700
Copyright
August 22, 2014
All Rights Reserved.
Killing a four-year-old Israeli child with a mortar
round near the Erez border crossing between Gaza and Southern Israel, Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned the Gaza-based terror group about reprisals. “Hamas will pay a heavy price for
the attack,” said Netanyahu’s spokesman Ofir Gendelman on his Twitter account. Known for at times puzzling public
relations, Netanyahu doesn’t need to warn Hamas about retaliation, since the
latest war begun Aug. 8 has claimed over 2,000 Palestinian lives, some
two-thirds woman and children.
Talking about “paying a price” for the death of one Israeli child plays well to
Netanyahu’s base but antagonizes the global community that sees Israel as
applying disproportionate force in Gaza.
With the Palestinian body count at 2,091 and Israeli at 68, there’s no
logic in Netanyahu warnings about Hamas “paying a heavy price.”
Speaking at a meeting in Turkey, Hamas official Saleh Arouri acknowledged
that the abductions and murders of three Israeli teens were indeed by the
al-Qassam Brigades, confirming Netanyahu’s suspicions from Day 1: That Hamas was responsible for the
teen killings. “It was an operation
by your brothers from the al-Qassam Brigades,” admitting that Hamas wanted to
exchange Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails. Whatever excuse for the latest
conflict, neither side shows interest in compromise, especially with a
Cairo-brokered ceasefire. Hamas’s
58-year-old Doha, Oatar-based leader-in-exile Khaled Meshaal insists Israel must
open the Erez border crossing and end its land, air and sea blockade on Gaza.
What Meshaal doesn’t mention is that Egypt’s President Abel Fattah el-Sisi
refuses to open the Rafah border, fearing Hamas collaboration with the Muslim
Brotherhood.
Hamas finds itself caught between a rock-and-a-hard place, emphasizing
that only Israel refuses to end the blockade.
In reality, Egypt’s new leaders want no part of open borders with Gaza,
knowing the history of smuggling and infiltration. As an affiliate of the Muslim
Brotherhood, Hamas seeks to topple the el-Sisi regime, restoring 63-year-old
jailed Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed Morsi to power. Watching an Israeli four-year-old
killed by a mortar shell should remind the international community that if Hamas
had the means they would wipeout Israel’s entire population. Blaming Israel for clumsy surgical
strikes causing collateral damage in the densely populated Gaza Strip ignores
what Hamas would do if they had the firepower.
Hamas rejects any comparison between itself and other Sunni terror groups
like al-Qaeda and al-Baghdadi’s Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.
Warning airlines Aug. 21 to stop flying into Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion
airport, an unnamed Hamas Al-Qassam Brigade spokesman said all airlines would be
fair game. Threatening commercial
airlines shows what Hamas would stoop to in the name of “resistance.” Killing
three senior Hamas commanders Aug. 21, Israel put Hamas in no mood to make
concessions, only continue the Gaza martyrdom.
Lashing out at its own citizens, Hamas publicly executed 18 Gazans
accused without proof of collaborating with Israel. Public executions coerce automatic
obedience to ordinary folks, fearing arrest, torture and death without any
rights. “Choking the necks of
collaborators,” Hamas officials cracked down on phony Israeli spies and
collaborators to justify its incompetent management of the war. Unable to make a dent in Israel,
Hamas can only retaliate against its own citizens.
Watching the Israeli Defense Forces skillfully target senior Hamas
leaders, Hamas only fires clumsy missiles missing most Israeli targets. When they killed a four-year-old in today’s missile strikes, Netanyahu should bite his
tongue, plan his next move and stop the counterproductive threats, only hurting
Israel’s public relations. Watching
the extra-judicial executions is plenty of bad PR for Hamas, without needing
Netanyahu’s two cents about comparisons to ISIS or al-Qaeda. “We will not accept anything less
than an end to the [Israeli] aggression and an end to the blockade,” said Gaza’s Hamas leader Ismail
Haniyech, prepared to watch Gaza bombed into the Stone Age. “Anyone involved in the cease-fire
efforts must understand that our people will not accept anything less that
this,” misrepresenting rank-and-file Gazans, speaking only for Hamas’s elite but
self-destructive militant wing.
Walking out of talks in Cairo, Hamas doesn’t state publicly that Israel
and Egypt are on the exact same page when it comes to ending the blockade. Neither country wants open the
borders and end the blockade without disarming Hamas. Egypt’s el-Sisi refuses to allow
Hamas to join the Muslim Brotherhood and destabilize Egypt’s new government. Meshaal and Haniyeh know that
Netanyahu won’t cow to Hamas’s threats any more than el-Sisi. Hamas continues the rocket fire to
save face, knowing that they’ve gotten nothing so far either from Israel or
Egypt. As long as Hamas is
committed to destroying Israel, Netanyahu won’t budge one inch on Hamas’s
demands or return to any indirect talks with Ramallah-based Palestinian
Authority led by more amenable Ramallah-based 79-year-old leader Mahmoud Abbas. With Abbas giving Hamas free reign,
peace looks even more bleak.
About the Author
|
