Israel Confronts Tehran’s Terror Proxies in Gaza

The best way to reduce violence long-term is to deprive Hamas of the means to kill civilians.

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As violence between Israel and Tehran’s terror proxies in Gaza continues, President Joseph Biden used a call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday to reiterate his desire for a ceasefire. Given the human suffering over the last week, calls for a cessation of violence are certainly understandable.

But when applying that virtuous impulse to the situation in Israel and Gaza, honest observers should reject suggestions of moral equivalence between Israel and terrorist groups, while recognizing that inflicting additional damage on terrorist groups now may save more Israeli and Palestinian lives in the long run.

False equivalence.
As often happens in Israel’s conflicts with terrorist groups in Gaza, some international observers have explicitly or implicitly suggested a moral equivalence between the two sides. But such a suggestion does not stand up to scrutiny.

On one side, you have Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ). For good reason, the U.S. government has designated both as foreign terrorist organizations. In just 10 days, these terrorist groups launched more than 4,000 rockets toward Israel in an effort to kill civilians. These rockets are not precise weapons of war but rather tools of terror.

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  1. Steve

    Call me a nutjob, zealot or Bible freak if you wish but there will be no "end" to hostility between the Jewish people (descendants of Abraham and Isaac) and Arabs (descendants of Abraham and Ishmael). Abraham accords anyone?

    This was foretold some 4,000 years ago in the book of Genesis. Note in chapter 16 that God promises to make a great nation of Ishmael for Abraham's sake but in verses 11 & 12 it is also prophesied that Ishmael will be at war with his kin. Note also there is no time frame mentioned in the texts, implying that the descendants of Issac and Ishmael will always be enemies.

    Again in Chapter 21, the promise to make Ishmael into a great nation is reiterated to Hagar after she was sent away with her son, now 10-12 years old, due to the jealousy of Sarah, Abraham's wife.
    The Arab people are indeed a "great nation" but nothing is said about that nation being the source of blessing for all nations as is foretold regarding Isaac in chapter 22 vs 15-18. Note also in that prophesy that God himself swears that the descendants of Isaac will "possess the gate of his enemies".

    Is this not the case today, all these millennia later?

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  2. Jaybrown

    Excellent analysis. Thank you.

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  3. cb76

    "while assiduously avoiding civilian casualties"

    Well, that's that real trick, isn't it? It would appear from what we've seen so far that avoiding civilian casualties isn't possible, no matter how precise IDF would no doubt like to be in striking Hamas. The reality seems to be that while this conflict continues, large numbers of Palestinian civilians are going to die, and I'm not sure degrading Hamas' ability to attack (which, won't they just replenish anyway?) is a worthwhile trade-off. All of which is to say, if there is an acceptable way to get Hamas to cease their attacks without further violence, that needs to happen immediately.

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      El Duderino

      What would you define as acceptable, though? That's the real rub, and that's the reason that conflicts like this keep happening.

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    2. cb76

      Apparently there was an acceptable way. Bravo. Hope the ceasefire holds.

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    Jason Gibson

    very logical

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  5. Jim L

    Well said.

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    Paul Reichardt

    There is a lot of speculation and confusion being sown in the article. Most of it is aimed to debunk western critics of Israeli actions in Gaza using moral equivalence arguments, but then the Iran subject seems to get brought in for ominous off-key narrative effect.

    Iran no doubt partially funds Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Gaza as a relatively cheap way to project power in the region and instill fear on Israel, who have otherwise shown remarkable ease at infiltrating deep into Iran’s security apparatus to humiliating effect. Dollar for dollar, support for militants in Gaza and Lebanon is far more of an efficient investment for them than a nuclear program and allows for plausible deniability while international observers are distracted with ringing their hands over civilian casualties.

    If Iran were really behind the curtain on this latest conflagration, this would seem to be a golden time for the IRGC to have a well-choreographed rocket barrage raining down on Israel from Gaza, Lebanon, and Syria to maximize fear and damage to let the Israelis know that they are vulnerable too. Similar to using the Houthis as a way of making the Saudis feel the heat, perhaps Iran’s interest is more tangential opportunism than in a driving force behind the escalation in Gaza. After the reactor sabotage and the assassination of the chief Iranian nuclear scientist, they would have all the motive they’d need.

    But yet…that hasn’t happened. There was some activity on Israel’s northern border, but that seems to have been isolated. Perhaps Iran is not wanting to disrupt the negotiations in Vienna—perish the thought that Biden’s diplomacy efforts could be having a pacifying effect. Regardless, the longer it takes for a cease-fire is the longer Iran will have to seize the opportunity, if that were a strategic goal of Iran.

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    Kevin Johnson

    Bravo! History tells us that the very DAY Palestinians have leaders ready to negotiate land for peace, they can begin to get both, as Jordan and Egypt did. Israel can change its own governments, as it has, and offer peace plans and even ban Jews from living in lands soaked with the blood of Jews and Arabs. Recall the wrenching scenes of a right-wing Israeli government using force to remove Jews living in Gaza. But Israel can’t install the Sadat or Hussein the Palestinians so desperately need and deserve. Israel can only make clear that terror won’t push them into the sea, even when accompanied by western countries’ disgusting double-standards in turning defenders into aggressors.

    Whatever formulas outsiders may prefer, Palestinians will get a state through only one means. They must negotiate with the neighbor which will forever continue to offend by existing. Any Israeli government turning back legitimate Palestinian moves toward a negotiated settlement will fall in days. Palestinians, with the help of honest friends, must find a way to reject leaders who to this very day preach destroying Israel and murdering any and all Jews one can reach.

    We, like Palestinians and Israelis, can forever support differing narratives on how we got here. No one is going to definitively win the struggle over narratives. But we know peace is obtainable despite fundamental disagreements. We have seen it all over the world and in the Middle East. Continuing to lie to Palestinians by pretending they can have what Hamas and Islamic Jihad want (the destruction of Israel) is cruel beyond imagining. They can hate Jews, believe Israel is imperialist, teach their kids lies about the past...but they will only get peace when they negotiate one with Israel. This is a hard, immutable truth, unless they believe Iranian nukes will wipe Israel away.

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  8. Nicco

    This article spurred a speculative thought.
    What are the odds that the recent rocket barrage from Gaza is actually Iranian-directed retaliation for Israel’s cyber-attack on Iranian infrastructure and lobbying against a new JCPOA (dressed up with the convenient excuse of Sheik Jarra)?
    If Hamas is as tied to Iran as the authors suggest, this seems like a reasonable possibility.

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      Todd T

      I don’t think that national boundaries are as important as Shi’ite doctrine. You are on to something.

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    Chris L

    The second to last paragraph is key. Do not underestimate Iran's desire and efforts to prod Hamas to test Israel. They've had plenty of practice doing this in Yemen and Syria through those respective proxies as it is.

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  10. nbp

    Even the IDF knows that there is no military solution to hamas. The furthering of the war is only to the political benefit of Hamas and Netanyahu. Quite disappointed that the dispatch is running pieces like this.

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    1. PaliMat

      And there is some other “solution to Hamas”…? Please share.

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