The Telegraph explains how what is preventing the ceasefire is not Netanyahu’s insistence on carrying out Netanyahu’s military campaign but Yahya Sinwar’s fanaticism. Western politicians should understand this
Ending the suffering endured by ordinary Palestinians in the eight months since Hamas terrorists launched their devastating attack on Israel on October 7 has been the driving motivation behind Western efforts to resolve the conflict.” writes Con Coughlin in the Telegraph. “While securing the release of the 120 Israeli hostages still held captive by Hamas is another important consideration, Trying to prevent Palestinian civilians from suffering further bloodshed appears to have been uppermost in the minds of those seeking to implement a ceasefire in Gaza. Administration Bidenin particular, is so committed to achieving a ceasefire to have secured the support of the United Nations Security Council before the Secretary of State Antony Blinken undertake yet another diplomatic mission in the Middle East, his eighth since the outbreak of the Gaza conflict. Previous US initiatives have invariably ended in failure of the talks, generally attributed to the intransigence of the Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. His insistence on carrying out the Israeli military campaign aimed at wiping the terrorist organization off the face of the earth, even if Hamas leaders agree to release all remaining Israeli hostages, it is constantly cited as the reason for the failure of diplomatic efforts aimed at completing the Israeli military campaign.
However, as is becoming more and more evidentis not Netanyahu’s hard-line approach to hinder peace efforts. It is the fanaticism of Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas terrorist mastermind behind the October 7 atrocities. Known as the ‘Butcher of Khan Yunis’ after the Gaza enclave where he was born, one of the key calculations of Sinwar appears to have thought when planning the October 7 attacks that the inevitable military response from Israel would ultimately work to Hamas’s advantage. And, judging by the number of leaked messages Sinwar allegedly sent to other Hamas commanders in recent weeks, his ploy worked wonders. Israel generally draws the most global criticism for its handling of the Gaza conflict. The underhanded methods employed by Hamas in the interests of its own self-preservation, meanwhile, rarely attract the attention they undoubtedly deserve. This is despite Hamas using Palestinian civilians as human shields and schools and hospitals as command and control centers. According to details obtained by the Wall Street Journal, Sinwar believes the Palestinian victims ‘are necessary sacrifices.’ The global criticism leveled against Israel for its handling of the Gaza conflict means that, from Sinwar’s distorted perspective, ‘we have the Israelis right where we want them’. From the beginning of the conflict, it is clear that Sinwar’s sole ambition has been to ensure that Hamas survives in Gaza once hostilities ended, even if that means that only a small fraction remains of the 24 fighter battalions that Hamas had at its disposal from the beginning.
Any ceasefire agreement that allows Hamas to retain any vestige of control over Gaza would be seen as rewarding its leaders for committing serious acts of terrorism. Certainly, now that Sinwar’s cavalier attitude towards the well-being of the Palestinian people has been exposedWestern politicians should understand that Hamas, not Israel, is the real obstacle to achieving lasting peace in Gaza.”
(Translation by Giulio Meotti)
