The war in Gaza has been going on for 648 days as of this writing, the same length of time the Israeli hostages have been held by Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) in Gaza tunnels. The very objectives the Israeli government laid out for victory have not been fully met. Fifty hostages, 20 assumed alive and the rest murdered by Hamas, are still in captivity. Hamas is still on its feet, despite 15,000 dead and many more wounded. And in spite of losing its top commanders, and its political leaders in the Gaza Strip, Hamas continues to resist and control the Gazan population.
The objectives laid out by the Israeli government when launching the war against Hamas in Gaza were to defeat the terror group militarily and free the hostages — having paid a “steep price” by releasing thousands of murderous terrorists who may rejoin Hamas in attacking Israelis in the future. More importantly, the price was paid with the blood of 893 heroic Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers. Another objective was to end the threat to Israel from the Gaza terrorist groups.
A major part of the problem for the Israeli policymakers and the IDF command is the media. The left-leaning Hebrew channels, and many of their TV anchors, who have contempt for Netanyahu and his right-of- center government, have skewed their reportage and hyped the hostage situation. Netanyahu and his government have been targeted as the reason for the absence of a resolution that would bring back the hostages — a wish the entire nation of Israel shares. Lost in the hyperbole is the fact that many Israelis support the government as they attempt to save lives rather than “carpet-bomb” the entire area.
Hamas operatives are watching the same Israeli TV broadcasts Israelis watch and derive immense pleasure from seeing the families of the hostages, encouraged by the TV channels’ hosts, rail against the government and Netanyahu in particular, while demanding that a deal be made with Hamas at all costs. Their calls to end the war on Hamas’s terms would leave Hamas in place, armed, and in political and civil control of the Gaza Strip. This simply amounts to “music to Hamas’s ears.”
The families of the hostages travel to the U.S. to meet with President Trump and previously with Biden, adding to pressure on Israel to end the war, without the IDF being able to accomplish its goals. Instead of demanding that more American pressure be put on Hamas and Qatar, they are maligning Netanyahu — accusing him of being more concerned with self-preservation than with ending the war and making a deal to release the hostages. Yet it is Hamas and not Israel that has rejected all efforts for a compromised deal for the release of the hostages.
At the same time, Israeli leaders, including Netanyahu, must talk less about eradicating Hamas and do more to make it happen. The unnecessary statements from defense minister Israel Katz and P.M. Netanyahu are unproductive and accomplish very little. They simply provide fodder for the foreign press to come out against Israel.
Israel, oftentimes, employs a Western mindset when dealing with the cruel terrorist groups who respect only overwhelming power. Jerusalem has made chronic mistakes in Gaza that have prevented Israel from achieving ultimate victory. One such mistake is believing that Qatar and the Hamas leadership in Doha can influence Hamas in Gaza to become more flexible regarding a hostage deal.
Another mistake is rejecting the idea of occupying the entire Gaza Strip. Depriving Hamas of territory in Gaza would deem holding the hostages meaningless and would give Israel command over the negotiations for their release. Likewise, it would reverse the roles — with Israel setting the terms on who is to be released — and hopefully all 50 of them at once.
The strategy for a total victory must go beyond military triumph to change the reality on the ground. Although IDF troops have been victorious in their encounters with the Hamas and PIJ terrorists, killing all of them will take years and will compromise the lives of many IDF soldiers. Israel must therefore exploit Hamas’s weaknesses and disconnect them from the general population in Gaza by using elements within the Islamic faith and culture to expose and foil Hamas’s recruitment efforts.
Additionally, distribution of humanitarian aid to Gazans must continue to be carried out by an outside party, with the IDF being in charge of security. And Israel must encourage and support those Palestinians who seek to immigrate to other countries, in accordance with President Trump’s vision.
Gaza’s reconstruction must be conditioned upon the freeing of all 50 hostages and their return to Israel, disarming the Hamas and PIJ fighters and facilitating their exile (not to Judea and Samaria) but preferably to Muslim nations like Malaysia or Indonesia, as well as the deradicalization of the educational system in Gaza for the remaining residents and their children.
Finally, the legal constraints placed upon the IDF operations in Gaza must be lifted, and the IDF must be able to use its full force to overwhelm and end Hamas’s will to fight.
The media in Israel has to become more responsible and stop — knowingly or not —doing Hamas’s bidding. It is high time the IDF be unrestrained in order to win the war.
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