Israel isn't backing down from its goal of ending Hamas following the Iran-backed terrorists' barbaric massacre on October 7 according to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Instead, in defiance of outside pressure to end operations in response to the war begun by Hamas and continued through endless weeks of rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip, Netanyahu said the IDF's operations in Gaza would be expanding in the days and weeks ahead.
"We are not stopping," Netanyahu said. "We are expanding the fight in the coming days and this will be a long battle and it isn’t close to finished."
Israel's latest commitment to following through on the mission of ensuring Hamas cannot attack Israel again nor continue oppressing and endangering the citizens of Gaza comes after Egypt floated a new ceasefire plan that would allow Hamas to survive. That prospect, of course, is untenable given the terrorists' pledge to repeat the vile horrors of October 7 again and again.
A report from AP — the news outlet that was recently caught trying to claim that Israel's operation to take out Hamas terrorists and their infrastructure was the "most destructive in history" — noted that Egypt's plan "falls short" of Israel's mission to stop Hamas once and for all. Specifically, the ceasefire proposal "would appear not to meet Israel's insistence on keeping military control over Gaza for an extended period after the war" and "is unclear if Hamas would agree to relinquish power."
That blather from AP means the proposal is fatally flawed. First, it's laughable that Hamas would "agree" to give up power. The terrorist government funded and armed by Iran could have relinquished power at any time, laid down its arms, and ended hostilities. Hamas terrorists, of course, have not. Instead, the barbarians have followed up their October 7 attack — the deadliest single day for Jews since the Holocaust — with near-constant rocket attacks targeting Israeli civilians.
Indeed, on Monday, the terrorist leaders of Hamas rejected the Egyptian proposal:
Hamas and the allied Islamic Jihad have rejected an Egyptian proposal that they relinquish power in the Gaza Strip in return for a permanent ceasefire.
— Ihab Hassan (@IhabHassane) December 25, 2023
Hamas and Islamic Jihad are willing to prioritize retaining power in Gaza over the lives of the entire Gaza population.
It's easy to understand why: the terrorist leaders of the Gaza Strip don't care about the lives of civilians, otherwise they wouldn't use their schools, mosques, and hospitals to plan and launch their attacks. The only thing Hamas cares about is continuing its barbaric campaign to eliminate Israel as a nation and kill as many Israelis in the process.
That means Israel must ensure that Hamas has no power, no weapons, and no future of being able to oppress Gazans or attack Israelis.
To that end, the IDF has continued tracking down and eliminating Hamas terrorists, their infrastructure, and their weapons. Recently, Israel has revealed more about the terrorists' command and control centers in northern Gaza:
🔴WATCH: IDF soldiers exposed Hamas' northern headquarters.
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) December 24, 2023
Dozens of meters deep, the underground headquarters was made up of 2 levels, with an intricate tunnel network—used for directing combat and the movement of terrorists. This network was connected to a shaft leading to… pic.twitter.com/rioSighGz0
In addition to the underground systems used by Hamas, the IDF located more Hamas terrorists hiding out in a school and raided the building only to find more weapons, explosives, and Hamas technology being hidden within the facility for Gazan children:
Textbooks, students, classrooms, and explosives—one of these is not like the other…
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) December 24, 2023
After evacuating the area, our troops operated to eliminate terrorists, and locate weapons—including grenades, RPG missiles, explosives, and various media devices—inside the school compound. pic.twitter.com/Otkh70X6lN
Netanyahu is right that there's still a long road ahead for Israel as it works to protect its citizens from the horrors of Hamas, but he's also right to say its untenable for Israel to stop fighting while Hamas terrorists continue attacking Israel — especially if the ceasefire is intended to allow Hamas to have a seat at the table in deciding the future of Gaza.