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CONLEY COMMENTARY (WSAU) – Would you take this bet? I predict that Hamas will never be heard from again, and will never mount another attack against Israel.
Don’t be a sucker. I predict within the space of a few years, the cycle of violence will start all over again.
How do I know? Because Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s stated goals of Hamas being disarmed have not been achieved. His first instincts, that Hamas needs to be completely destroyed, were corrected. In the name of getting 20 hostages returned, he stopped short.
Consider the reports from Gaza less than a day after the cease fire was signed. As Palestinians were returning to the area, and so were Hamas militias. And there was at least one public execution. The victims were fellow Palestinians, who were deemed to be collaborators with Israel.
The message is unmistakable. Hamas still exists and is still armed. They are exacting revenue because they still expect to be a presence in Gaza. They may willingly get out of the governing business. Trash removal and keeping the electricity on are needless distractions. Their goal is more likely to control certain neighborhoods through fear and violence. They’ll send a message to whomever is governing that they don’t control the streets – Hamas does. And that’s the message that was sent before the ink was even dry on the peace deal.
I am delighted to see hostages reunited with their families. Fighting that has claimed civilian lives has ceased. These are positive developments.
But it is not a lasting peace. Hamas still exists. At this very moment Iranian forces are reaching out. The next plot is already being planned. History will prove me right.
Chris Conley
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