This past weekend, Hamas—a Palestinian terrorist group—commenced a deadly and atrocious siege on Israel while Jewish people were most vulnerable, observing a season of Jewish holidays.
Hamas militants invaded Israeli towns and military bases, killing, wounding, raping and kidnapping thousands of individuals. Hamas attacked through every avenue possible: land, sea and air. Rockets were fired from remote locations while military forces infiltrated Israel.
Hamas routinely conceals its weaponry and projectiles in civilian areas in an attempt to draw civilian casualties and further propagandize the ongoing conflict, specifically locating its military apparatus near mosques, schools and hospitals.
These heinous actions conducted by Hamas and backed by Iran, fueled by anti-Zionism and subsequently antisemitism, are unprecedented in scale but not in principle. Hamas has long sought Israel’s destruction.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has disturbingly but not unexpectedly directed his criticism towards Israel in the aftermath of these actions, reportedly asserting that Palestinians have the right to defend themselves against the “terror of settlers and occupation troops.”
Iranian officials have similarly applauded Hamas’s actions. This conflict has long rested upon a simple truth. If Hamas ceased all fighting, this conflict would have been resolved long ago. If Israel ceased fighting, its existence would be terminated.
Israel has served as and remains a vital ally in the West’s fight against terror in the Middle East. Its longstanding existence historically predated Palestine. Its Judeo-Christian values demonstrate its indespensibility to Western civilization.
It remains a beacon of faith in the world and has been threatened by Middle Eastern dangers that have long sought its destruction despite endless concessions by Israel—transferring the authority over the Western Bank to Palestine, permitting the employment of Palestinian laborers in Israel in support of the Palestinian economy, the withdrawal from the Gaza Strip—among many other concessions.
These compromises by Israel have been consistently met with ongoing violence from foreign threats, as no concession short of Israel’s total annihilation will satisfy hostile entities who have acted under the guise of self-determination.
While the Trump administration strongly stood by Israel, moving the United States Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, the Biden administration’s actions have welcomed this aggression after supporting Iran and, subsequently, Hamas terror, releasing $6 billion in frozen Iranian funds.
Appeasing terrorism is inconceivably mindless. Some have defended these actions, claiming the money was not directly used to fund terror. This argument is invalid. Once Iran knew these funds would be released, this permitted the substitution of unrestricted money and subsequently allowed them to fund terror through unmarked finances. More broadly, the Biden administration signaled weakness to foreign enemies, particularly in the Middle East, as a result of the fumbled withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021. This, of course, was followed by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, China’s increased aggression towards Taiwan and currently an Iran-backed invasion of Israel by Hamas.
There is no moral equivalence in this conflict. Hamas has committed the most barbaric and merciless acts of terror humanly possible with their objective of Israeli extermination. Israel must meet these acts of aggression with unyielding retaliatory power and force.
The world must stand by Israel. The United States must strengthen its support for Israel and be a fierce ally to this crucial asset in the Middle East. Pray for Israel.
