Hamas must be destroyed. Entirely obvious, of course. But it is surprising how many are only now coming to this conclusion, 16 months after October 7.
It was the spectacle of the handover of the poor Bibas boys that did it. Everyone can see it now: the group that strangled a baby and toddler to death, then mutilated their bodies to look as if they had been killed in an airstrike, then released them in locked coffins stuffed with propaganda and staged a carnival for the occasion, has no more place on this Earth than Islamic State did before it.
Suddenly, both-sideism is exposed for the moral bankruptcy it has always represented. Israel may have its flaws but they are of an entirely different order to the deep-seated evil of the other side. This week, Mark Dubowitz, the distinguished CEO of the Foundation for Defence of Democracies, posted on X: “I deeply regret my decades of support for a Palestinian state under ‘land for peace’ and the ‘two-state solution’. I was wrong—badly wrong. I misjudged a society that prioritises murdering Jewish children over building a better future for its own. I apologise.”
As I argued recently, I’m not against the notion of a Palestinian state on principle. Depriving them of their opportunity for self-determination would be illiberal and counterproductive. The problem, however, is that by consistently weaponising the pursuit of statehood as a cover for destroying the Jewish state, the Palestinian leadership has deprived that opportunity from their own people. As tragic as it is, it’s not our tragedy.
Hamas prides itself on its skill in manipulating Western audiences. I have written about this before. But the group is like a psychopath which doesn’t understand human emotions himself, yet tries to ape them in order to stimulate certain emotions in others. That approach only gets you so far before you make a mistake. And wrapping the release of the Bibas family in a festival mood was such a mistake.
Suddenly, to argue that Hamas must be wiped out no longer seems like a fringe position; seen in this light, it is astonishing how many people have deployed such a wide range of methods to enable the jihadi group to survive.
There was the global PR attempt, led by the Joe Biden administration, to prevent Israel from entering Rafah, where the stronghold of Hamas — and its ability to resupply — was located. (“All eyes on Rafah? Remember?) There were all those self-regarding commentators who insist that destroying Hamas is impossible because it is an idea. People: so was Nazism.
There were those who shamelessly appropriated the agony of the hostages and their families to pressure Israel into allowing Hamas to survive and plan another October 7. And there were those who presented Hamas as freedom fighters who treated the hostages well and whose worst crime was to harm civilians through carelessness.
These people have lost the argument. At least, they have lost the argument in the minds of anybody who is not anchored to an ideological commitment. It reminds me of when I revealed back in 2018 that Jeremy Corbyn had said that British Zionists did not understand “English irony”. Those whose minds were open to change were now persuaded that the man was an antisemite. As for everyone else, nothing would persuade them anyway.
So the right-thinking people of the free world can unite now behind the goal of exterminating Hamas. Not that this is at all easy. Consider the ceasefire agreement: most deals involve compromise in the cause of mutual benefit and may lead to eventual reconciliation. That is not the case here.
Both Israel and Hamas remain committed to the destruction of the other side. Hamas, of course, has held that goal ever since its inception, whereas Israel has only committed to it since October 7. But in such a zero-sum dynamic, the current deal was signed only because each side believed that it would gain medium-term benefits that would allow it to pursue ultimate victory.
Hamas wished to gain the chance to rebuild and remain in power. Israel, meanwhile, needed its hostages home as part of the solemn blood contract between the state and the people. But there will come a point where no more can be done. Sorrowfully, this will demand a return to the war.
But now the world understands that we must not falter. The IDF must destroy Hamas; the free world must stand firm against the wave of sympathy it enjoys around the Middle East; and we must demand the deHamasification of communities in our own countries. No longer can we excuse, relativise or shy away from evil. We owe this much both to the memory of the Bibas boys and the futures of our children.
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