The irony of it all

The irony of it all
Jaroslava Halper

Just a couple of months ago Israel was seen as a rising power—if not at the world level, at least on par with the big wigs in the Middle East. After all, even if Hamas was not disarmed it was pushed into a corner and promising to disarm, the hostages were to be released (and all have been, except for the remains of Ran Gvili), a ceasefire was in place, and a new governance structure including recruiting peacekeeping troops had been discussed and seemingly agreed upon by the potential participants. Everything looked to be going well at the other fronts as well. Houthis were relatively quiet. Iran had suffered major blows in the war with Israel back in June, and Hezbollah lost its leadership and suffered major losses on the ground—so much that the Lebanese government was emboldened to sign off on the ceasefire and its implementation. Iraq released Elisabeth Tsurkov after almost 3 years as a hostage. Syria was making overtures of peace towards Israel even if its treatment of the Druze on Israel’s border raised concerns.

The irony of it is that Israel, successfully fighting for its existence and, by extension, for the freedom of the Western world, the seeming winner of a seven front war is now being pushed around by certain Arab and Muslim states in the current round in the war in Gaza. Yes, the war is still going on in deeds and words though technically and theoretically speaking there is a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas since October 10 this year. Practically, Hamas is suppressing opposition militias and bolstering its authority in Gaza by continuing to attack Israel with small operations. Of course, western news sources love to publicize Israel’s response and ignore Hamas’s attacks. Support for Hamas not only by Qatar and Turkey but by most other Muslim countries remains high, contrary to what some might think. It was Trump’s two phase 20-point peace plan Israel and Hamas signed. But Israel, the state having the most at stake, is being outwitted by Turkey and Qatar in its implementation. Those two countries are the only states not just willing but eager to send “peacekeeping” troops to Gaza. The plan was agreed to because Qatar promised that it would make sure that Hamas fulfills its obligations, including disarmament, as stipulated by the peace plan. Not anymore. Qatar and Turkey have quietly accepted that Hamas will not disarm.

Meanwhile Hezbollah’s supply routes have somehow been reopened, and it is sharpening its knives to get ready for another round with Israel. And Iran? The situation is unclear as there are signs that the damage inflicted last spring on Iran supply of ballistic missiles has not been as extensive as Israel has hoped. Iran is cracking down on its own population by executing dissidents and people it claims spied for Israel. Iran’s economy is in shambles and serious lack of water supply (no, this is not Israel’s doing) may lead to relocation of population of Teheran. However, so far from diminishing the Iranian threat, these internal troubles may embolden the Iranian regime to attack Israel again in order to stir up support from its base.

As the winning military power in the conflict, Israel should decide on conditions to Hamas to surrender and on the future governance of Gaza. It should be Israel who should have the decisive last words determining the next step, not Turkey and Qatar whose goals is to resuscitate Hamas and to rearm it so it can go back to attacking Israel.

It is ironic, if not tragic not just for Israel but for the “free world” that while anti-Semitism and anti-Israeli hatred and actions are still on the rise around the world, the recent, Davos-like summit in Doha attracted every person of “importance” and his brother. What did Qatar do to deserve such recognition besides pouring money into terror, propaganda and financing top universities in the US?

Qatar announced that it will not contribute to rebuilding Gaza. And why shouldn’t Qatar contribute? After all they funded Hamas, including tunnel construction and other preparations for October 7. Qatar still supports lavish lifestyle of Hamas leaders living in Qatar. And why isn’t Hamas asked to finance reconstruction? After all, its leaders dead or alive have billions in banks. What is happening to the money of dead Hamas leaders? Should not those billions go to Gazans and Gaza reconstruction? And this is also a dangerous precedent. Iran already threatened that it would sue the US (and Israel?) for compensation for the destruction it suffered in the June war with Israel. Does Israel get compensation from Iran for its destruction of Israeli communities in the south and north? Of course not.

And Qatar, the instigator of it all, should be excluded (together with Turkey) from participating in “peacekeeping” in Gaza rather than host another conference in Doha today with 25 partner Arab and Muslim nations to plan the International Stabilization Force (ISF) that is intended to stabilize Gaza under the auspices of the U.S. Central Command. By the way it is not clear what the role of the ISF would be. It should be a peacekeeping force to fill the vacuum left by Hamas, but what could it do if Hamas does not disarm? Little, perhaps besides preventing Israel from disarming Hamas. Shouldn’t Israel have a say in any Gaza force?

Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya says the group’s arms are “a right guaranteed by international law”. According to him the ISF should be limited to “maintaining the ceasefire and separating the parties along the Gaza Strip’s border.” Translation: he wants the ISF to push Israel out of Gaza and prevent it from returning. That would leave Hamas free to carry on its activities. Hussam al-Astal, the commander of an anti-Hamas clan militia in Khan Younis, argues that Hamas will never change its ways unless it is disarmed and dismantled. He warns if Hamas stays in power, more violence will be coming.. He contends that Hamas derives its influence from controlling and extorting civilians and that removing this leverage would speed up the end of Hamas.

It is shameful and cowardly that European countries, except for Italy, refuse to participate in the ISF. Their support for “Palestine” was an empty and harmful gesture. Whether it was the result of fear of Hamas and terrorism, fear of their own Muslim minorities , their desire to “punish” Israel for daring to fight Hamas, or all of the above, we can only speculate. Their inaction should disqualify them in further “peace efforts” in the Middle East.

So where do we go now? First of all, we need to realize that the removal of Hamas and other Islamist elements may lead to democratization, peace and the abandonment of terrorism, but it will take years. Though the path to democracy is long, the liberation of Gazans from Hamas and the expansion of Abraham Accords are the first crucial steps towards democracy in Middle East. Before these steps can be taken, Qatar and Turkey need to be stripped of their roles of supporting Hamas and of their actions aimed at the destruction of Israel. Neither should have any role in the ISF. Indeed, an ISF that is not going to disarm Hamas is worthless. Let Israel or the anti-Hamas militias in Gaza do the job.