Ceasefires and agreements with Hamas are worthless. Israel will only achieve calm in Gaza by targeting its leadership.
Successive military operations have shown those in control of the Gaza Strip are not fazed by casualties on either side. The hostilities will continue if those in charge of Gaza are not held accountable.
Hamas has held the people of Gaza and Israel hostage for 15 years. Hamas commanders make a living from the suffering of others while they are safely protected in bunkers under hospitals. The conflict is no longer about religion, land, or ideology. It is about their mansions, Swiss bank accounts, and private jets.
For years, Israel has operated a predictable tit-for-tat strategy. Headlines from five years ago read as if written today. Hamas commits the double war crime of firing missiles at Israeli civilians from positions embedded within its own civilian population. Israel responds by killing a few field operatives and destroying some missile launching pads. Then every few years, the pot boils over into a war. Israel pinpoints some of Hamas’ strategic assets and keeps destroying them until a ceasefire is brokered. Then we wait for the same thing to happen again.
The only viable way to stop this cycle is to change the paradigm.
Instead of settling for a ceasefire, Israel must put Hamas leaders within the crosshairs. These men, war criminals who must pay for their actions, must be made wanted fugitives with blood on their hands and a price on their head.
If missiles are shot at Israelis, the response should no longer be directed toward empty buildings. Rather, Israel must target the decision-makers without warning. Swift death must be dealt to those who have dedicated their lives to the deaths of innocent Gazans and Israelis.
Without the Iron Dome missile defense system, the recent rocket attacks would likely have killed hundreds, if not thousands, of Israeli civilians. Had Hamas converted its underground metro of attack tunnels into bomb shelters, it likely wouldn’t have had a single civilian casualty on its side. And think of how many doses of COVID-19 vaccines Hamas could have secured had it spent its Qatari and Iranian dollars on vaccines to save lives instead of missiles to end them.
In 2005, Israel handed Gaza to the Palestinians on a silver platter, dismantling dozens of small Israeli towns and cities while evacuating 8,000 Israeli citizens in the name of peace. The Gazan leadership could have created a Dubai-like paradise. Instead, it created a launching pad to destroy Israel built on the exploitation of its own people.
After the largest escalation since Hamas took control of Gaza, the rules must change. The Israeli defense establishment should take a page from the United States, which did not negotiate with ISIS or al Qaeda. There were no ceasefires. The U.S. simply hunted down and killed Abu Bakr al Baghdadi and Osama Bin Laden.
Retired Brig. Gen. Amir Avivi is the director of Habithonistim, a group of 2,000 former Israeli military generals and officers dedicated to securing Israel.
