The United Nations, several progressive Democrats, and even the Pope are calling for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on the other hand, rejects the idea of a ceasefire, stating that “[c]alls for a ceasefire are a call for Israel to surrender to Hamas, to surrender to terror, to surrender to barbarism.”
Would a ceasefire accomplish anything? By seeing what Hamas has said since its murder of 1,400 Israelis and kidnapping of approximately 230 hostages, one can readily see that a ceasefire would not meaningfully change Hamas and its actions. Recent statements by Hamas (in addition to the murder and kidnapping of the civilians themselves, of course) show a relentless, genocidal hatred for Israel and Jews that is an existential threat for the Jewish State that can only be defeated with Hamas’ total destruction. Some examples are the following:
October 7 – 13
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh predicts that Hamas’ attacks will spread to all Israel “as well as to the resistance and our Palestinian people abroad…We say one thing: Get out of our land, get out of our faces. Get out of our Jerusalem and our Al-Aqsa Mosque. We do not want to see you on this land. This land is ours, Jerusalem is ours, everything is ours.” [Al-Jazeera Network (Qatar), Oct. 7, 2023]
Hamas Military Commander Mohammed Deif says: “I say to our pure mujahideen: This is the day that you make this criminal enemy understand that its time is up. [The Quran says:] ‘Kill them wherever you may find them…I say to our people in occupied [pre-1967 Israel] – in the Negev, the Galilee, the Triangle, Haifa, Jaffa, Acre, Lod, and Ramla: Torch the earth under the feet of the plundering occupiers – kill, burn, destroy, and shut down roads…” [Al-Jazeera Network (Qatar), Oct. 7, 2023]
A Hamas terrorist calls his father from the phone of an Israeli woman he murdered (along with her husband and eight others) and brags that he killed 10 Israelis “with my own hands.” [Website of Israeli Army Spokesman, Oct. 7, 2023]
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and other leaders perform a “prostration of gratitude” for the October 7 attacks [The Internet – “Various Iranian online outlets,” Oct. 7, 2023]
Senior Hamas official Ali Baraka stated that Hamas wants a prisoner swap with the US given that the US did one with Iran. Baraka also states: “The Israelis are known to love life. We, on the other hand, sacrifice ourselves…The thing any Palestinian desires the most is to be martyred for the sake of Allah, defending his land.” [Russia Today TV (Russia), Oct. 8, 2023]
Senior Hamas official Khaled Mashaal congratulates those responsible for the Hamas attack, stating “Allah’s blessing to everyone who prepared, organized, arranged, and made this dream come true on the land…They brought about this glory.” [Almahriah TV (Yemen), YouTube channel, Oct. 10, 2023]
Senior Hamas official Khaled Mashaal calls on Muslims to “take to the streets…send a message of rage…[C]onvoys of mujahideen are on their way to shed their pure blood on the land of Palestine.” [Al-Mahriah TV(Yemen), Oct. 10, 2023]
Hamas Political Bureau Member Osama Hamdan states: “Hamas has just one ‘no’ – no to the existence of Israel…Let them [Israeli Jews] return to where they came from. We will help them go there safely.” [Al-Jadeed TV (Lebanon), Oct. 11, 2023]
October 14 – 20
Hamas Official Osama Hamdan states that the bombing near a Gaza hospital [falsely attributed to Israel] is “a mark of shame on Biden and on Blinken, who…only remembers that he is a Jew…” and a “holocaust they are perpetrating themselves.” [Al-Jazeera Network (Qatar), Oct. 17, 2023]
Senior Hamas official Khaled Mashaal falsely states that “Hamas does not kill civilians on purpose. It focuses on the soldiers. Period.” [Al-Arabiya Network (Dubai/Saudi Arabia), Oct. 19, 2023]
October 21 – present
Talal Nassar, a Hamas official in Turkey, falsely claims that on October 7, Hamas only captured women that were soldiers or were injured and needed treatment [Al-Shoub TV (Turkey), Oct. 24, 2023]
Ghazi Hamad, a member of Hamas’ Political Bureau, falsely calls the October 7 attack “purely a military operation…directed at the soldiers and military bases around the Gaza Strip…[and] not directed against civilians.” Hamad also states that the drive for Arab normalization with Israel “was resoundingly shattered” by the October 7 attack. [Al-Manar TV (Hizbullah – Lebanon), Oct. 25, 2023]
Senior Hamas official Khaled Mashaal states that Russia told Hamas that the October 7 attack “would be taught in military academies” and that China views the attack “as a dazzling example” and that they “are thinking of carrying out a plan in Taiwan” that models that attack. Mashaal also calls on “Arab communities in the West to be active.” Sada Elbalad TV (Egypt), Oct. 26, 2023]
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh states: “The blood of the women, children, and elderly…We are the ones who need this blood, so it awakens within us the revolutionary spirit…” [Mayadeen TV (Lebanon), Oct. 26, 2023]
Shehab, a Hamas-affiliated news agency, posted an animated video on its Twitter account calling on West Bank Palestinians to join Gazans in killing Israelis. [Shehab news agency, Twitter account, Oct. 29, 2023]
The above quotes, like Hamas’ charter, clearly show that any ceasefire will merely be a tactical and short-term solution. In order to survive, Israel must destroy Hamas.
