Attribution to Dawood alquati – Own work

A couple of days ago, I chirped that what Israel is doing right now, with its ground incursion, into Gaza, will produce more terrorists, in the long run. I believe that to be true. as more civilians, in Gaza, are killed and wounded, Israel is receiving increasing condemnation throughout the world. The calls for ceasefire and an end to hostilities keep rising. Israel is becoming more isolated. Talking heads are recognizing that Hamas is a terrorist organization, but there are other ways to get rid of or negotiate with Hamas. Even the US, Israel’s strongest ally, is pushing for some kind of negotiated way out. All of this is true.

The person, in the image above, is Ghazi Hamad. He was born in a refugee camp, in 1964. He has been a Hamas member for the last 25 years. He was, at one time, the Deputy Foreign Minister, for Hamas. He is now the leading spokesman for Hamas.

The following are two statements that Hamad made, in an interview he gave, earlier this week.

“Israel is a country that has no place on our land. We must remove it because it constitutes a security, military and political catastrophe to the Arab and Islamic nation. We are not ashamed to say this.”

 “We must teach Israel a lesson, and we will do it again and again. The Al-Aqsa Deluge [the name Hamas gave its 7 October onslaught – ed.] is just the first time, and there will be a second, a third, a fourth. Will we have to pay a price? Yes, and we are ready to pay it. We are called a nation of martyrs, and we are proud to sacrifice martyrs.”

So, what can Israel do? How do you negotiate with an organization that has the chief goal of erasing you from the map. How do you deal with an organization that vows to repeat October 7? How do you deal with an organization that has hundreds of miles of underground tunnels, in Gaza, that they will continue to use to launch rockets and missiles, on Israel, if they are not destroyed?

Talking heads keep saying that Hamas can be attached strategically. What does that even mean. As long as the underground tunnels remain, Hamas can keep attacking with relative impunity.

I am not endorsing what Israel is doing right now. Thousands are dying. My question is, given the above, what can Israel do?