- The leaders of the Palestinian Authority (PA) walked away from the negotiating table a long time ago and show no interest in returning. They have continually refused to do what the Trump administration has asked: stop funding terrorism. They have shown again and again that they do not want a state living peacefully alongside Israel; they want to displace Israel. They have rejected the most generous proposals made by Israeli prime ministers, such as one made by Ehud Olmert in 2008, which included a near-total withdrawal from West Bank and the end of Israeli control of Jerusalem's Old City.
- The Middle East scholar, Daniel Pipes, observing that Israel's leaders shy away from victory, writes: "The only way for the conflict to be resolved is for one side to give up."
- "[F]iring 600 rockets at civilian targets in a neighboring country is an act of war... and as such it grants the nation-state [Israel] the authority under the international law of armed conflict not just to disable the specific military assets used to carry it out but to destroy those who carried it out... It's time for the world community to stop imposing these double standards on Israel, and start doing what international law requires: holding Hamas responsible for the devastation that results from Israel's legal, necessary, and proper responses to its provocations. Only then will Hamas know that if it sows the wind, it could truly reap the whirlwind..." — David French, National Review, May 6, 2019.
On May 5 and 6, 700 rockets were fired from Gaza into Israeli territory in less than 48 hours. It was the most intensive rocket offensive on Israel to date. Four people were killed: three Israelis and one Palestinian Arab worker. One of the Israelis was hit in his car by an anti-tank missile. The Israeli military retaliated and resumed targeted killings. One was to a Hamas member, Hamed al-Khoudary, considered responsible for the transfer of Iranian funds to the armed factions in Gaza. On May 6, a spokesman from Islamic Jihad and Hamas announced a ceasefire and said they had got "what they wanted".
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a short statement: "We struck a powerful blow against Hamas and Islamic Jihad. The campaign is not finished, and it will require patience and careful judgment. We're prepared for its continuation".
Various Israeli politicians, including members of the parties negotiating to be in the new governing coalition Netanyahu is building, said that the reprisals had been insufficient.
"The ceasefire, in the circumstances it was reached under, has no gains for Israel", noted Likud MK Gideon Saar. "The time between each round of violent attacks against Israel and its citizens is shrinking, and terror organizations in Gaza are strengthening. The fighting hasn't been ended, just pushed off."
Television interviews broadcast by the Israeli news channels show that the population of the south of the country is upset and would apparently like more drastic action.
The Palestinian Authority is already weak. Polls show that if elections were held today in Palestinian-controlled territory, Hamas would win by a landslide. Some commentators say that the PA is on the verge of collapse. The leaders of the PA walked away from the negotiating table a long time ago and show no interest in returning. They have continually refused to do what the Trump administration has asked: stop funding terrorism.
They have shown again and again that they do not want a state living peacefully alongside Israel; they want to displace Israel. They have rejected the most generous proposals made by Israeli prime ministers, such as one made by Ehud Olmert in 2008, which included a near-total withdrawal from West Bank and the end of Israeli control of Jerusalem's Old City.
The Israeli political parties whose members imagined that the "peace process" was not dead and that Israel has a "peace partner" all suffered a crushing defeatin recent Israeli elections.
Looking ahead, in a few weeks, after Ramadan, the Trump administration is expected to present its peace plan, also called the "deal of the century". The details of the plan are still secret. What is known so far is that the plan will not include the creation of a Palestinian state.
The new plan is also expected to include economic proposals for Palestinian Arabs living in the Gaza Strip and in territories currently disputed by the Palestinian Authority and Israel. The US, however, is also expected to make distinctions between Palestinian Arabs, the Palestinian people, and the organizations that govern them.
The Palestinian Authority has already said -- before having read the plan, that it will reject it. Hamas and Islamic Jihad are also expected to reject the plan. The mullahs in Iran will probably press them to commit more violence. The new plan will almost certainly receive the approval of the Sunni countries, led by Saudi Arabia. These states have shown in recent months that they evidently see the Palestinian Authority, Hamas and Islamic Jihad as obstacles to their own future growth. They might even prefer to see the Palestinian issue, presumably along with Hamas and Islamic Jihad, eliminated altogether.
Israel, in any event, might have to act soon.
Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Gaza, bordering Israel's south, have up to 20,000 rockets and missiles pointed at Israel -- a country roughly the size of Victoria Island. More than 150,000 rockets and missiles are deployed in Iran's proxycountry to Israel's north, Lebanon. The latest weaponry is more accurate and powerful than a few years ago. Israel's neighbors now have the means to reach the heart of Israel and its major cities, including Tel Aviv.
David M. Weinberg, vice-president of the Jerusalem Institute for Strategic Studies, cautions that if deterrence does not become harsher, "a strategy of attrition designed to temporarily deter the enemy and bring about periods of quiet along Israel's borders" will not be sufficient.
Alan Baker, the legal scholar and Director of the Institute for Contemporary Affairs at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, has noted that, "The attacks on Israeli civilian populations by Hamas and Islamic Jihad, and their use of civilian populations as human shields are crimes against humanity and war crimes ".
David French, an American journalist, wrote:
"[F]iring 600 rockets at civilian targets in a neighboring country is an act of war... and as such it grants the nation-state [Israel] the authority under the international law of armed conflict not just to disable the specific military assets used to carry it out but to destroy those who carried it out...
"It's time for the world community to stop imposing these double standards on Israel, and start doing what international law requires: holding Hamas responsible for the devastation that results from Israel's legal, necessary, and proper responses to its provocations. Only then will Hamas know that if it sows the wind, it could truly reap the whirlwind..."
In other words, Hamas and Islamic Jihad are terrorist organizations and should be treated as such.
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