Letter: Of Course, Hamas or Someone Else Will Break the Ceasefire

Dear editor:

I assume Bruce Ticker knows the answer to his question. (“Column: Will the Characters Left in Charge Shatter the Ceasefire?” Boulder Jewish News, January 23, 2024) At some point, Hamas (or another terrorist organization) will attack Israel and accuse Israel of aggression when Israel responds to the terrorists’ attack. The brutality of the October 7, 2023 attacks, and Palestinians’ cheering Hamas’ vow to inflict 1,000 such attacks on Israel’s people, had convinced Israeli leaders that Israel needed a definitive victory over Hamas, to be followed by the demilitarization of Gaza and a deradicalization of the Palestinians. But Israel’s enemies prevented full implementation of this plan — falsely accusing Israel of genocide and claiming the Israel wasn’t sending enough aid to the Palestinians in Gaza, conning Western leaders into urging Israel to accept a ceasefire prior to achieving its goals and slowing the delivery of armaments needed to destroy Hamas’ terror tunnels.

Are we going to see the repeat of the familiar pattern: repeated periods of war interrupted by periods of uneasy truce during which the fighting is limited to terrorist attacks but relations between Israel and most Arab countries cannot be described as warm? I hope not.

In the past fifteen months, Israel succeeded in significantly weakening Hamas and Hezbollah. Lebanon may be on its way to becoming self-governing  again and, with President Trump back in the White House, Iran may once again be rendered unable to support its proxies. We may have a chance to see real peace in the Middle East if President Trump can convince Arab nations to accept displaced Palestinians (as citizens, not refugees with limits on their access to jobs and education), if an expanded Abraham Accords can replace UNRWA and work on creating Palestinian entities where the people can become productive citizens willing to coexist, peacefully, with the nation-state of the Jews.

https://nypost.com/2025/01/16/opinion/douglas-murray-it-is-time-to-eliminate-hamas-and-bring-our-hostages-back-home/?utm_source=aol&utm_campaign=android_nyp

Toby F. Block
Atlanta, GA