Three weeks after the 7 October attacks on Israel by Hamas, Israeli forces are moving gradually into the Gaza Strip. They are doing so gradually because political pressure — especially from the Biden administration — has caused them to delay.

From the outset, President Biden and Secretary of State Tony Blinken have played a very cagey game with the Israelis. On 8 October, the day after the attack, Blinken posted on “X” (formerly Twitter) that, “Turkish Foreign Minister @HakanFidan and I spoke further on Hamas’ terrorist attacks on Israel. I encouraged Türkiye’s advocacy for a cease-fire and the release of all hostages held by Hamas immediately.” Shortly afterward — when outrage at Blinken’s statement erupted — the post was taken down. (READ MORE from Jed Babbin: Wars Raise Two More Critical Issues)

Since then, as reported by the Wall Street Journal and many others, U.S. officials have been pressuring the Israelis to delay a Gaza incursion for reasons including allowing time for the U.S. to deploy more missile defenses into the area.

Biden has denied demanding that the Israelis delay the Gaza action but it’s not at all clear that his staff — including Blinken, SecDef Austin and others — are even telling him what’s going on.

The delays are also caused by Israeli skepticism about the Gaza mission and how it can be accomplished. My friend Dr. Chuck Freilich, a former deputy national security adviser to the Israeli government, said the delays were because Israel is preparing the battlefield.

Freilch told me in a Saturday email that, “Delay was beneficial to best prepare for a very difficult mission, to provide time to explore every possibility to get some of the hostages out and because the U.S. wanted to finish deploying its extensive capabilities to the region.”

How can the Israelis accomplish the destruction of Hamas? First, by refusing to return to the status quo ante. Here again, Biden is getting it wrong. He said last week that the U.S. is still committed to a “two-state solution” to the Palestinian’s grievances.

That is simply bizarre. As this column has pointed out repeatedly, the Israelis have offered a “two-state” solution to the Palestinians three times since 2000 on far more generous terms than Jordan and Egypt did when they controlled the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Each time the Palestinians rejected Israel’s offer.

Biden’s statement is both ignorant and a denial of the Palestinians’ rejection of Israel’s right to exist.

The Israelis have been hitting Hamas targets from the air for over two weeks. They have used precision-guided munitions to great effect and to minimize civilian casualties. Their air strikes have killed many Hamas leaders — including reportedly one of the planners of the October 7 attacks — but too many remain. Israel’s armor and ground troops entered the Gaza Strip in force on major raids. (READ MORE: Israel’s Three Big Problems)

But how do you fight a terrorist group that uses human shields? Israeli intelligence has reportedly located several of Hamas’ main command centers. Some are in the basements of the largest hospitals in the Gaza Strip. At last report, Israel has warned those hospitals’ staffs to evacuate.

Simply put, as I wrote last week, Israel cannot prevent any civilian casualties. It is entitled to kill civilian human shields under the Geneva Conventions if they minimize those deaths and do so in order to strike significant enemy targets.

Israel won’t bomb the hospitals because it is doing its best to minimize civilian casualties. That leaves the operation to destroy Hamas and as many of its members as possible to Israeli ground troops, special operations forces, and armor.

Israel, despite international condemnation, is continuing the fight. The UN demands a ceasefire and our least reliable NATO ally, Turkish President Erdogan, has said Hamas were “liberators” fighting for their own land. Erdogan has threatened to send Turkish troops to Gaza to oppose Israeli troops.

Israel has no choice but to kill as many Hamas members as it can and to demolish the Hamas government of Gaza. It cannot do otherwise unless it wants to return to the status quo before October 7. President Biden deserves credit for what he has done so far, but what he is doing now diminishes that credit.

In a speech last week, Biden said, “The United States remains committed to the Palestinian people’s right to dignity and to self-determination. The actions of Hamas terrorists don’t take that right away.” As noted above he has — stupidly — recommitted us to a “two-state solution” to the Palestinian problem.

Last week, Biden let the sanctions against Iran’s missile program lapse. He has barely mentioned Iran in his speeches, apparently still desiring a new nuclear weapons deal with the ayatollahs. He has compelled the Israelis to admit relief shipments to Gaza and has told Hamas that it cannot intercept those shipments for its own benefit. Yeah, like that’s going to work.

China has sent six warships to the Middle East, including a guided missile cruiser, to demonstrate a counter-deterrent to the U.S. carrier battle groups that have been sent near Israel.

Biden is also restraining the Israelis from attacking Hizb’allah forces in Lebanon, fearing a widening of the war. Hizb’allah has yet not launched its enormous missile arsenal against Israel but Iran — which controls both Hamas and Hizb’allah — is making new threats.

Iranian Foreign Minister Amir-Abdollahian said that American statesmen were managing a genocide in Gaza and threatened, “But I warn, if the genocide in Gaza continues, they will not be spared from this fire.” Hizb’allah has, as this is being written, renewed its attacks on northern Israel.

Iranian-supported “militias” — i.e., other terrorists — have attacked several U.S. bases in Syria and Iraq. No Americans have, so far, been killed. But what happens when the first American dies in one of those attacks?

Blinken said last week that the U.S. would respond “swiftly and decisively” to any attack on American forces by Iran or its proxies. That drew a red line for Iran, but will Biden enforce it?

His — and Obama’s — track record on enforcing red lines is enormously deficient. In 2012, Obama declared a red line against Syria’s Bashar Assad using chemical weapons. When Assad did, Obama-Biden did nothing.

Biden has asked for another $100 million for Ukraine, Israel, and border security. It breaks down to about $60 million for Ukraine, $14 billion for Israel, $9 billion for “border security and migrant matters,” and the rest for odds and ends.

House Republicans have already objected to lumping the three together, as they should. They will, as I predicted earlier, break the bills down into three separate measures. Biden’s request for border security money will only be spent to increase the flow of illegal aliens into the U.S. That must not be allowed to happen.

Biden’s open borders have allowed about 3.2 million illegals into the U.S. in FY 2023. In the same period 736 known or suspected terrorists have been arrested by the Border Patrol.

But those numbers don’t include about 1.5 million “gotaways” in FY 2023 who weren’t even subjected to Biden’s “catch and release” program. Those 1.5 million certainly include any number of terrorists, spies, and saboteurs among them. We don’t have any idea who or where these people are. (READ MORE: Don’t Believe Biden’s Border Ploy)

An October 20 memo from the San Diego office of the Customs and Border intelligence branch specifically warned that members of Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and Hizb’allah may attempt to enter the U.S. They’re probably already here.

Biden’s open borders are an enormous threat to our national security and Americans’ personal safety. Border security means closing our borders to those who try to enter illegally. Biden will never do that.

Israel is, as usual, fighting our common enemies. We don’t want a wider war in the Middle East, but Biden needs to do everything possible to help Israel and to protect us from the terrorists who try to cross our borders including those who already have.