Many stakeholders in the resolution of the Israel-Gaza War insist that a tenuous but legitimate agreement is in place to resolve this war. The exception to this understanding is…Hamas.

Recently, an official for Hamas, Osama Hamdan, made clear in no uncertain terms, that Hamas will “negotiate” Phase 2 of the agreement. But their definition of negotiating is “stalling for time.”

In a podcast interview on November 10, Hamdan emphasized that only the first phase of the plan had been accepted, not Phase 2. Hamas has still not complied with Phase 1, which raises a number of questions:

Did Hamas lie to US President Donald J. Trump when it said that it had accepted his 20-point plan for ending its war against Israel in the Gaza Strip? Or is the terror group simply trying to buy time to reassert control over the Gaza Strip and prepare for more terror attacks against Israel? Yes and yes. Hamas lied. Hamas is trying to gain time by arguing that it needs to engage in negotiations and discussions about the implementation of most parts of the Trump plan. 

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Hamdan said during the interview that when the Hamas representatives went to Egypt to sign the Trump plan for peace in the Gaza Strip, they had only these things in mind: a ceasefire, exchanging their hostages for Palestinian prisoners, reopening the Gaza Strip's borders with Israel and Egypt, and the entry of unrestricted humanitarian aid. ‘What we signed was related to the first phase of the plan, the remaining phases are up for negotiations and discussions,’ he claimed.

Hamdan alleged that the US administration was aware that Hamas had not accepted all the 20 points of the Trump plan. ‘The Americans agreed to this,’ he said. ‘Our response was very clear.’

My assumption is that the United States was so relieved to have Phase 1 enacted that they ignored any concerns about the rest of Hamas’s statement. In its delusion, the U.S. assumed that once the process began to move forward, it would be able to persuade Hamas to change its mind.

Not a chance.

Hamdan made it clear in his interview that Hamas would not allow an international force to govern in Gaza; the foreign countries can’t even agree on who would be deployed and in charge:

According to private documents obtained by Politico, several Trump administration officials have expressed doubts that the peace deal’s second phase can be implemented. In a presentation given to U.S. Central Command and members of the newly created Civil-Military Coordination Center last month, experts shared concerns that the multinational security initiative planned for Gaza may not be able to be deployed, citing lack of commitments from foreign countries and lingering questions over who will ultimately oversee Gaza’s governance.

Hamas has shown even greater resistance to relinquishing their weapons:

Through Trump’s agreement stipulates the group should disarm and not be involved in any future governance, Hamas has long insisted it would hand over its weapons only as part of a deal that would lead to an independent Palestinian state — a position it reiterated again in its Friday statement, saying that any other issues would be discussed through a comprehensive national Palestinian framework that would include Hamas.

One can infer that Hamas intends to stay involved with the administration and governance of Gaza.

Where do these circumstances leave the peace plan? There appear to be only two alternatives for action. Everyone can patiently (or impatiently) wait for Hamas to decide it’s willing to move forward, and then participate in their version of “negotiations,” which could take months or even years, when Hamas will have fully rearmed. Or Israel can simply decide to wipe them out.

If Israel wants to survive, they can only implement the second choice.

Image: Free image, Pixabay license.