There should be no ceasefire in Gaza

Joe Biden appears to be pushing for a ceasefire in Gaza between Israel and Hamas. ‘My hope is that by next Monday we’ll have a ceasefire,’ the US president said yesterday. Hamas has said the comments are ‘premature’ and Israeli sources have reportedly said prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu was surprised by Biden’s remarks. Pressure for a ceasefire would benefit Hamas, which has been demanding a stop in the fighting since mid-October after it attacked Israel and massacred 1,000 people and took 240 hostages.

Hamas’ approach in this latest conflict is nothing new: it has often sought to leverage the suffering of Gazan civilians, which it hides behind to fire rockets and build tunnels, to push for ceasefires after carrying out attacks. This has been Hamas’ model for decades. It has honed this strategy, and historically has used pauses in fighting to rebuild its arsenal of rockets. It’s worth recalling that Hamas illegally took over Gaza in 2007, ejecting the Palestinian Authority, and then used Gaza to stockpile weapons and launch attacks.