Israel’s latest attacks on Hamas have been described as an attempt to pressure the terrorist organization to release its remaining hostages. But it may also have the broader goal of implementing U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) renewed the war on Tuesday after Hamas refused to agree to a Trump administration proposal to free the remaining 59 hostages, including five U.S. citizens (four dead, and one, Edan Alexander, alive).
Trump had previously said that he would not restrain the Israeli military after Hamas’s repeated violations of the first phase of a ceasefire deal that ultimately saw 33 hostages — 18 living, many of them near starvation — freed to Israel.
The president also said that the U.S. intended to take control of Gaza and redevelop it, and that the two million Palestinians there should be relocated, at least temporarily, and perhaps permanently, to prevent future wars.
A report by ABC News suggests that Israel is using its response to Hamas to begin implementing that plan, dropping leaflets urging Palestinians to flee and telling them that they will eventually be given safe passage out of the territory.
ABC reported:
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz warned the residents of Gaza that “the evacuation of the population from the battle zones” in Gaza will “begin again soon,” in a video message in Hebrew on Wednesday.
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“Take the advice of the U.S. President. Return the hostages and eliminate Hamas, and other options will open up for you — including going to other places in the world for those who wish,” Katz said.
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Israel’s current plan is to make Gaza unlivable, re-establish those so-called “humanitarian zones,” concentrate Palestinians in those bubbles or islands and from there offer voluntary transfer out of Gaza, retired Brig. Gen. Amir Avivi, a security hawk who continues to advise the military and defense ministry, told ABC News.
The Israeli media report that mediation efforts between Israel and Hamas continue. Hamas could likely end the Israeli operation by agreeing to release all of the hostages. Barring that, however, the fate of Gaza may be sealed.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stressed that whatever negotiations take place with Hamas in future will take place under fire and not, as in the last several weeks, under truce conditions that allow the terrorists to regroup.
Iran, which funds and arms anti-Israel terrorist groups in the region, including Hamas, urged protesters in the U.S. and Europe to protest against Israel. “Supreme Leader” Ali Khamenei declared: “The people must stop this tragedy.”
The protest movement, however, has lost momentum, with the Trump administration cracking down on foreign activists who have led anti-Israel and antisemitic demonstrations on U.S. college campuses and in city streets.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days, available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency, now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
