The ever-clueless Antony Blinken explains the prospective Israel-Hamas deal:
Gaza faces a perpetual war if Israel and Hamas do not sign a hostage deal to end the conflict, the US warned last night.
Antony Blinken, the US Secretary of State, said Washington estimated that Hamas had recruited almost as many new members as it had lost during the war against Israel so far.
There is no possible way that is true. Given Gaza’s history as a military state, I doubt that there were a lot of young men who were not already part of Gaza’s war effort. And assuming there were some, I don’t know how such recruitment could have been carried out while Israel has occupied most of Gaza, and certainly has prevented any substantial gatherings of military trainees.
But if it were true that Hamas has as many terrorists today as it did before October 7, the lesson would be that the war is nowhere near over, and Israel must press on until this new complement of soldiers are all dead.
More:
“Each time Israel completes its military operations and pulls back Hamas, militants regroup and re-emerge because there’s nothing else to fill the void.
“Indeed, we assess that Hamas has recruited almost as many new militants as it has lost,” Mr Blinken said in a speech at the Atlantic Council on Tuesday.
“That is a recipe for an enduring insurgency and perpetual war,” he added.
In other words, the war can’t be won, and Israel might as well give up. In reality, war is “perpetual” until one side accepts that it has lost. Apparently that hasn’t happened yet. So, what comes next?
An interim government will be established made up of representatives from Gaza and the Palestinian Authority, which will oversee the civil affairs such as the economy, education and health.
The international system will provide support to the interim government financially and technically while a UN official will be appointed to oversee reconstruction of Gaza.
According to Mr Blinken, an interim security mission, composed of military personnel from nations allied with the US and carefully screened Palestinian personnel, would be established. This is likely to be made up of forces from Arab countries close to the US.
***
Eventually, a reformed PA would take over control of Gaza, with the US providing training and equipment to a security force under the PA’s control.The post-war framework would ultimately be enshrined in a UN Security Council resolution, Mr Blinken added.
Wonderful! A UN Security Council resolution! That will do the trick. And Blinken contemplates that Gaza will continue to exist as a failed state, subsisting on international charity. As such, it inevitably will be a breeding ground for anti-Semitic terrorism. And, a “reformed” PA? Says who? How?
Will Prime Minister Netanyahu actually make such an agreement? As I recall, he has vowed that the Palestinian Authority–just as evil as Hamas, if less effective–will not be allowed to govern Gaza. And I see no reference to the cultural cleansing that Netanyahu has correctly said is necessary. Nothing about reforming Gaza’s schools, which teach nothing except anti-Semitism. Nothing about trying to turn Gaza into a normal society.
Is this really the agreement? Say it ain’t so, Benjamin. And how about you, Donald? I expected better.
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