The request for a one-way surrender and the quarrel between Obama and Netanyahu
Il Giornale, July 29, 2014
(Jerusalem) After a terrible day, Netanyahu ended any possibility of a truce without conditions, but has left the door open if the proposal includes the disarmament of Hamas. Israel has said that it "cannot accept living under a constant threat of death", and it will accept the international demand only by destroying the tunnels. This was stated while once again it seems that an armed group, which is still being pursued, infiltrated, and even after a mortar shell mowed down four soldiers and wounded 17 in the South of Israel, precisely where I met the previous day Chaim Yellin, the head of the Eshkol region. "These are Hamas’ humanitarian ceasefires", Netanyahu said, recalling that Hamas has violated them all. Israel held a tacit ceasefire to honor the Muslim holiday of Id el Fitr, but after dozens of missiles were fired, it decided to respond. Palestinians have complained of cannon shots to a hospital in Shiba: seven dead have been reported, but everything is uncertain when the news is from a Hamas source. The army says it has not shot on Shiba, although the basement is the Headquarters of the Hamas leadership. In addition, it is known now that the Israeli army did not carry out the UNRWA school massacre.
But Hamas’ technique is that of "win-win", victory for sure: if Hamas can kill civilians it is the most celebrated of terrorists in the area, admired by Iran and Hezbollah. If this is not possible, it uses its population as a human shield and it gets international support. Obama, on this line has asked Netanyahu for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire. A surprising proposal for practical and strategic reasons, to which Ban Ki-moon immediately voiced his support: yesterday he put Hamas, which has in its statute the genocide of Jews and Christians, on the same footing as Israel. He has also threatened Israel with isolation, and accused it of war crimes. In doing so, he followed Obama, lamenting the loss of civilian life, but remaining silent on the violation of all international laws of those who are bombing an entire Country. The origin of Obama’s diktat began to take shape Friday when, instead of the Egyptian proposal, Kerry presented to the Israeli government a document which constricted Israel to let Hamas maintain its missiles, tunnels, and money from Qatar without control. The Cabinet rejected the proposal that Kerry had put together involving the active brigades of the Muslim Brotherhood, Turkey ruled by Erdogan, a hysterical anti-Semite who compares Israel to Hitler, and Qatar, which finances the bloodiest of revolutions. In so doing, he has alienated Egypt, Abu Mazen, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, who had drawn up a long-term proposal for peace.
Kerry was unpleased with the refusal; Obama called Netanyahu asking for an immediate and unconditional cease-fire, but which does not foresee missile disarmament, nor the destruction of tunnels designed to bring wide-spread terrorist attacks deep into the Israeli territory. At this time, because Netanyahu insists on an agreement which includes the disarmament of Hamas, Kerry should be changing the tone of American discourse, indicating openness on this issue, while Obama had relegated its priority to when, in a few years’ time, a final agreement would have been signed.
Too many errors committed by the world’s major power. To understand the situation, it is necessary to look at the complexity of the war, where, in many homes in Sujahie, Israel has discovered that every shower, every kitchen, every bed hides a trap door to dozens of galleries, some six stories high, others suited for the passage of trucks. The Hamas plan was a simultaneous entrance from thirty to forty tunnels into as many communities in Israel, for a kind of Israeli September 11.