Ceasefire is on the table, but Hamas terrorists don’t want it

In “US president warns of looming Ramadan deadline and tells Israel there are ‘no excuses for not letting aid into Gaza’” (Daily Telegraph):

Joe Biden has said a ceasefire deal is in the hands of Hamas as he urged the terror group to accept an Israeli proposal for a pause in fighting.

“It’s in the hands of Hamas right now,” Mr Biden. “The Israelis have been co-operating, the offer (of a ceasefire) is rational. We’ll know in a couple of days. But we need the ceasefire.”

The talks broke down after Hamas refused to provide a list confirming which hostages in Gaza are still alive.

The deal involves:

Hamas releasing all women, children and wounded hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held in Israel, to a ratio of about one hostage to 10 prisoners.

It also allows for hundreds of aid lorries to enter Gaza during a 40-day pause in fighting.

There seem to be no protests & exhortations calling on Hamas to release the women, children and injured? Indeed, a few days ago, Hamas even “refused to reveal how many hostages are alive” (DT):

Hamas was refusing to hand over the names of living hostages, stalling talks for a ceasefire, on Sunday night.

Israel has demanded to know how many of the roughly 130 hostages that remain in Gaza are still alive as a condition of returning to the negotiating table.

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Israel doesn’t want to be at war; but Hamas wants it

Israel is amenable to a ceasefire — as long as Hamas releases the Israeli civilians being held hostage. Hamas have not only instigated this war; but have refused to observe measures which would bring about a ceasefire — even a modest reprieve for Ramadan. They want to be in a perpetual state of war. 

People will be thinking as they read this: “oh... but is that a reason to be killing civilians?”. But, they need to blame the right people: Hamas. Hamas grabbed these non-combatants; women and children as hostages. They have wrought hell-on-Earth upon ‘their own’ people in Gaza.

A fundamental problem is that people regard Hamas as a vague external actor and not as the government of Gaza. Hamas have somehow managed to shift the responsibility for Gazan citizens wellbeing onto Israel. However, Hamas simply don’t care about the innocent Palestinian civilians. Ismail Haniyeh has called “the blood of women, children, and the elderly of Gaza ... so as to awaken our revolutionary spirit”. They will never prioritise peace, prosperity and wellbeing for the ordinary Gazans. They don’t want a ceasefire because the more the Gazans suffer, the more the West will turn on Israel and Jews in general. There’s also a report of the Hamas leadership citing civilian causalities as a good bargaining chip. 

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As far as I see it, a ceasefire would only ever be entertained by Hamas if it offered a strategic advantage in stopping Israel from winning the war which Hamas declared on Israel & Gaza.

The harsh reality, in my view, is that the kidnapped victims are very unlikely to be released safely. Probably Ever. And, I suspect that the Israeli government knows this.

From a strategic perspective, enacting a ceasefire would now only strengthen Hamas. They are now in a position of an almost defeated enemy, and desperate to regroup. Only Rafah is left in Hamas’ control. I think Israel should go forward with their offensive. A ceasefire called now will, in a few months/years, be another war with heavy civilian casualties against a fascist adversary that cares not for its civilian population. I don’t think Israel is going to stop until they wipe out the capabilities of Hamas. Hamas and their Iranian backers have overplayed their hand on October 7th.