Murder, Inc. on the Gaza Riviera
On this, the second day since Trump’s “greatest ever” peace deal took hold in Gaza, all hell has broken loose. According to the NY Times, Hamas, in an effort to re-establish its control, publicly executed dozens of its enemies, including members of clans who assisted Israel during the war, and either left their bodies to lay in the streets or, insuring that the now famous Gaza health authorities could get a somewhat accurate count, dumped them in front of hospitals.
The new daily death toll in Gaza City is probably higher than before the IDF withdrew. This does not bode well for anyone, particularly ordinary Gazans, since Hamas took over in the first place by murderous terror. It hardly conducive to a peacekeeping force (volunteers, anyone?) not to mention trust in a two-state solution.
But wait. The published reaction of the Chairman of the Gaza “Board of Peace” to this slaughter was the following: “[W]e gave them approval for a period of time”, the Times quoted Trump as saying. They (Hamas) had “taken out a couple of gangs that were very bad. That didn’t bother me very much, to be honest”.
Pertinent here is the well-known story about the Las Vegas casino magnate who put his faith in the services of “Murder, Inc.” mobster Bugsy Siegel after Bugsy famously assured him, “We only kill each other.”
Particularly since Trump is a real estate developer and casino builder who keeps at least one eye on his proposed “Gaza Riviera”, a project close to his heart which would likely include something of tasteful simplicity like the “Trump Dome of the Rock Hotel and Casino” on the “Strip”. Hamas is in the protection business, and casinos will surely need that, since rough and tumble Gaza isn’t Monaco. Trump bragging about giving Hamas approval to “only kill each other”, while not in the Nobel Prize category, makes perfect business sense but no other sense.
Internal security in Gaza, a concept which we can now see has been indefinitely left up for grabs without any serious plan, is in total chaos. The lack of an attention span or dedication to detail since the “greatest ever” peace deal was touted like some self-congratulatory shtik in Sharm El-Sheikh is stunning if hardly surprising. Trumps m.o. is to spike the football on the 20-yard line and quickly split for Air Force One. What is required is true bravery and serious statesmanship, not some showmanship and a new business project.