Hamas: let’s not make a deal
I am so weary of starting posts by asking, “Is anyone at all surprised at this?” But – is anyone at all surprised by this?:
An Israeli official says that Jerusalem has received Hamas’s response to the hostage release and ceasefire deal offer presented by US President Joe Biden late last month, and that the reply from the terror group effectively rejects the proposal. …
The official adds that Hamas has changed the main parameters of the proposal.
The statement comes after Hamas announced that it had submitted a response to Qatari and Egyptian mediators expressing “readiness to positively” come to a deal in the ongoing war in Gaza, sparked by the terror group’s October 7 massacre in southern Israel.
The Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad response to Israel’s latest hostage-ceasefire proposal reportedly includes amendments to the offer, including a new timeline for the hostage release and withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza.
The entire attempt to negotiate with Hamas is a bleak and completely unfunny joke. Hamas, unlike most parties to a war, is not only completely unconcerned with how many non-fighters it loses, it actively wants to lose civilians (or what passes for civilians in Gaza) in order to win the propaganda war.
And in the propaganda war, Hamas is doing very well indeed. The only reason it’s doing well in that latter war is that much of the world swallows its lies. In addition (as I’ve also said many times), the Hamas leaders are not dumb. They took all the hostages in the first place because they knew it would force Israel – and the Biden administration – to negotiate no matter what was happening in the larger war and how badly Hamas might be doing.
Speaking of the Biden administration – why is the US a party to these negotiations? And not just a party, but apparently leading the way? That’s somewhat of a rhetorical question; I’m aware that the administration would like to control Israel and force it into a ceasefire.
And could it be that Blinken is really just this stupid?
You get to a point where you have to question whether Hamas is proceeding in good faith? How about: right from the beginning you know they’re not proceeding in good faith, not even close? Hamas is a terror group dedicated to Israel’s destruction, not to mention the destruction of Jews and the West. They are toying with you. They are laughing at you.
This is a charade, and not just because Hamas keeps refusing these deals. It is also ludicrous because the deals themselves are incredibly favorable to Hamas.
NOTE: And recall that Sinwar, the current head of Hamas, was released from an Israeli prison as part of the deal for a single hostage, Gilad Shalit:
Five years and four months after Shalit was captured by Palestinian militants in southern Israel, a deal was reached between Israel and Hamas to release Shalit in exchange for 1,027 Palestinian and Israeli Arab prisoners. The deal was brokered by German and Egyptian mediators and signed in Egypt on 11 October 2011.
I debate over whether blinken, is evil or stupid, I conclude yes, yes it’s been a tragic sideshow for at nearly 40 years, when yassin was released to head at least his part of the intifada, abu jihad was the other party, then he was subsequently jailed until the attempt on meshaal, in jordan, which was only at fault because it failed, eventually he was bombed to bits in 2004 then Rantisi some years later,
so for the time being, not making a deal is better for Israel, I think too many future fighters were released in the last round of exchanges, a future sirwar, perhaps,
Blinken can be both evil and stupid, like Joe Biden is.
“Remind me, again, of the last genocide in the history of mankind that involved its victims rejecting a proposal to end violence.” – X
In rejecting the W.H. proposal, Hamas saves Israel from having to reject it.
“Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.” Napoleon Bonaparte
I don’t have any special knowledge of either the war in Gaza, or the war in Ukraine, but my ever-deepening cynicism about the Biden regime has led me to assume that they’re deperately trying to take credit for cease-fires in both places.
Moreover, they’re trying to manipulate the process, so they can make their announcement of diplomatic triumph just before the November election. They could then ride the ensuing media clamor to an election victory. Of course, it won’t matter when the ceasefires break down. Joe would still be in office, ready to do more damage.
“You have to question whether they’re proceeding in good faith.”
That Blinken fella is one stupid mongrel.
Islam is steeped in bad faith…root, stem, flower & fruit.
we’re on the 8th anniversary of the Pulse shooting, carried out by a cititzen of Afghan background his father was a Bureau asset, thats why they didn’t track him even though he set off more flags than Atlantis, he had ties to the Blind Sheikh through his bodyguard, to Saudi preachers in the Kingdom, he contacted on the hajj, his father had welcomed a guest imam, who spoke with great care about the treatment of infidels, oh this mosque birthed another isis martyr wi wentt to Syria, despite the highest casualty count until Las Vegas, two years later, the story was buried, and the whole thing was repurposed for a criticism of ‘hate’ the theology of which was elided, to point this out is islamophobia, much like when the Hamas cheerleaders go on rampages,
as we’ve seen on a small scale so far,
I suspect Blinken is becoming very wealthy.
Obama came to the presidency as a man of means but modest means. Now I understand that he has palatial residences in Martha’s Vineyard, Hawaii, and Washington DC. Has anyone looked into how that happened?
AOC goes from bartender to multi-millionaire and on and on it goes…
I wish the big thinkers (not us, but the Heritage Foundation, the Manhattan Institute, etc.) who share the views of most of us here would start to propose how to get out of this mess.
How do you shut down K street? Do you close up all of these swamp creature organizations and somehow rebuild? Incremental change will NOT get it done.
How do you break up the economic oligarchy? Big pharma (trying to kill us), big defense (sending us to the poorhouse while NOT meeting their mission of keeping us safe), big food, (trying to poison us) and on and on…
I have little hope…
Blinken is an example of the problems with political patronage. He’s been a reliable party apparatchik and was rewarded with the SoS position. He’s completely unqualified and not very smart as well.
Of course, the Civil Service system hasn’t covered itself in glory, either.
This a problem that can’t be solved unless you the world is honest and acknowledges Islam is the problem. The good news is Muslims who’ve been enslaved by it know it better than anyone. So it’s not really you against the world
“And could it be that Blinken is really just this stupid?”
If only.
Blinken and the Democrats are NOT stupid. They are cynical, evil, and anti-American.
Blinken’s walking a fine line (as do most serial prevaricators):
– “‘Biden’ is Israel’s best friend, really truly” (but is actually an ally of the Mullahs and therefore, also its proxies).
– “‘Biden’ has Israel’s best interests at heart, deeply, madly” (but has to find a way to get rid of Netanyahu—under the guise that Netanyahu DOES NOT have Israel’s best interests at heart and is putting Israel in grave “clear and present” danger).
– “Israel has no better ally than ‘Biden’, absolutely, positively” (but in fact a Palestinian State MUST BE CREATED…”for the sake of POLITICAL, MORAL, HISTORICAL and ETHICAL JUSTICE…and—most importantly—to establish a just and lasting peace in the region and the world”).
Just more “Biden” INSANITY, to be sure.
(ROTFLH indeed…)
As—was it Mark Twain?—said, it’s better to tell the truth because then you don’t have to wrack your brains (such as they are) trying to remember which lies you told to which people.
(To be sure, “Biden”—utterly shameless—doesn’t have that problem…because “he” just doesn’t care; and because “he” has the Uber-Corrupt Media and Infotech propping “him” up AT ALL TIMES and AT ALL COSTS.)
The issue in a nutshell: By promoting Iran and the Palestinians—and plying them both with Billions upon Billions of dollars (and equally importantly, MORAL SUPPORT)—“Biden” has resurrected this mess and exacerbated.
BUT “he” has to blame someone…so “he”‘s taking the “easy” way out—holding Israel essentially responsible—while sweet-talking so as to try to appear judicious and even-handed (whatever that might mean in such a situation). The only remaining question is IF Iran and its proxies—and the Palestinians—will CONTINUE to play along TO SUPPORT “BIDEN”‘S carefully calibrated efforts…
…or whether Hezbullah, or perhaps the Houthis will make a mistake and take things a bit too far (even if in reality, there’s almost nothing they can do to “GO TOO FAR”, given the PRIORITIES of “Biden”‘s perverted “POLICIES”.
Still, the potential DOES exist that the whole thing will explode spectacularly, most likely due to the Hezbull’ah threat, which “Biden” and “his” abject, equally shameless media collusionists have been doing their very best to conceal.
Ira:
Agreed. My question was rhetorical.
See one of Carolyn Glick’s posts. The most sensible interpretation of Hamas’ behavior on 7 October is that they are addled by magical thinking. They actually are dumb.
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I am hoping Israel finishes them off ‘ere long.
Blinken and the Democrats are NOT stupid. They are cynical, evil, and anti-American.
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Embrace the power of ‘and’.
Blinken is an example of the problems with political patronage
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He might be a cautionary tale about hiring people with law degrees who have never practiced. What he really is is an example of how social processes have given us a political class which is extensively credentialed but should not be left in charge of a Chia pet. To some extent it is a deficit of public spirit, to some extent a deficit of sense, to some extent a deficit of actual accomplishment.
Being Secretary of State is how you get a Nobel Peace Prize, and there’s no better way to get a Nobel Peace Prize than appearing to create progress in the Middle East.
All they need is to nibble at the periphery (and be a Democrat; Pompeo and Trump get nothing for the Abraham Accords). Just get a ceasefire that lasts for six months or so. Long enough for the Nobel committee to give you the award. Then the muslims can start killing Jews again.
Reset. Now the next Secretary of State can get his/her Nobel Peace Prize. I bet they hope the war never ends.
This is the State Department’s version of busy work.
Hamas sees that it is winning the propaganda war, and so they are not compelled to agree to this arrangement. If I were negotiating I would read this to mean that they do not believe or accept that Israel can and will continue their actions to the point of defeating Hamas. Hamas is unconcerned, as Neo points out, about the loss of “civilian” Gazan lives. Also, it is obvious that the proposed exchange of hostages is not tilted enough in Hamas’ favor, they want even more. They know that Israel is unable and unwilling to take the most prudent and obvious step, namely killing all the Palestinian hostages Hamas has identified on their exchange list.
Israel, for their part, has no choice but to continue to hunt down and kill all the Hamas fighters and leaders they can find. Doing that while minimizing the killing of “civilians” is the tricky part.