RUTHFULLY YOURS

Adam Boehler, the US Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs, stated on March 9 that he did not rule out the possibility of reaching a long-term truce between Israel and the Iran-backed Palestinian terrorist group Hamas in the Gaza Strip. He also did not rule out the possibility that Hamas would agree to lay down its weapons, saying:

“I think there’s an answer here, and I think the answer is that Hamas lays down their arms. We exchange prisoners, and they [Hamas] go into a long-term truce, where they don’t fight, they’re not part of any political party, and that gives us lots of cooling-off time.”

Boehler’s statements came after the American media outlet Axios revealed that the Trump administration has been holding direct talks with Hamas over the release of US hostages held in the Gaza Strip and the possibility of a broader deal to end the war, which erupted on October 7, 2023 when thousands of Hamas terrorists and ordinary Palestinians invaded Israel, murdered some 1,200 Israelis and wounded thousands others. Another 251 people were kidnapped to the Gaza Strip. Fifty-nine hostages are still being held by Hamas, half of whom may no longer be alive.

While the Trump administration deserves enormous appreciation for its sincere efforts to secure the release of the Israeli and American hostages, it must be careful not to allow itself to be duped by Hamas.

For many years, Israel believed that Hamas was not interested in an all-out war with Israel and was working for economic prosperity in the Gaza Strip. Recently, when the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) published the results of an investigation into the October 7 massacre, they showed how Hamas managed to deceive Israel into thinking that the terrorist group was not interested in another round of fighting. As part of the deception, according to the IDF report, Hamas was working to convince Israel that it was interested in calm and was working for economic prosperity. The IDF investigation concluded that Hamas had planned the October 7 attack for more than 10 years.

Hamas’s deception included sending messages to Israel indicating interest in a long-term truce. According to one report:

“Hamas recently sent a series of messages to Israel indicating interest in a long-term ceasefire lasting for several years… Senior Hamas officials met with Western diplomats about the ceasefire, and also reached a number of understandings about the character of the ceasefire, also known as tahdiyya [calm].”

In 2018, Egypt was reported to be finalizing details of a long-term truce deal between Israel and Hamas. An Egyptian security source was quoted as saying that “the period of calm will be for one year, during which contacts will be held to extend it for another four years.”

Today, everyone knows that the talk about a long-term truce was nothing but a smokescreen to conceal Hamas’s real intention of launching its October 7 attack against Israel.

Hamas anyway is not known for honoring ceasefire agreements. During the past 15 years, several truces reached between Hamas and Israel collapsed after the terrorist group violated them, including by test-firing rockets toward the sea, including those with a notably long range. On July 15, 2014, Israel accepted a ceasefire initiated by Egypt and stopped all fire. However, Hamas terrorists then fired more than 50 rockets at Israeli communities. On July 17, Israel agreed to a five-hour humanitarian ceasefire. Hamas rejected it and fired rockets, including at the city of Beersheba. On July 20, Israel approved a two-hour medical and humanitarian window in the area of Shejaiya in the Gaza Strip, following an International Committee of the Red Cross request. Forty minutes after the ceasefire went into effect, Hamas violated it. Nevertheless, Israel implemented the ceasefire, even extending it for two more hours. On July 26, 2014, Hamas announced a 24-hour humanitarian ceasefire at 14.00. Hamas violated its own ceasefire a short time later.

Some Westerners mistakenly think that Hamas’s talk about a hudna (armistice or truce) implies that the terrorist group seeks peace with Israel. Yet, hudna has another meaning for many Muslims, particularly extremists. The roots of hudna can be traced back to the Treaty of Hudaybiyya in 628 CE, a pivotal agreement between prophet Mohammed and the Quraysh tribe of Mecca. This treaty allowed Muslims to perform pilgrimage to Mecca and established a truce between the two parties for 10 years. Over the following two years, however, Mohammed rearmed, broke the hudna and launched a full conquest of Mecca.

For Hamas, a hudna is a temporary break from war — it does not indicate a desire to end it and achieve peace. While Hamas was talking, for ten years before October 7, 2023, about its desire to reach a long-term truce, it was busy preparing for the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust.

It is plainly uninformed to believe that Hamas would ever lay down its weapons and agree to end its jihad (holy war) against Israel.

The Trump administration is advised to listen to what Hamas leaders say in Arabic to their own people, and not what they tell US officials during secret meetings in Qatar. Earlier this month, for instance, senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri, speaking in Arabic, reassured his people that his group rejects demands by Israel and the US to disarm, emphasizing:

“The right to resistance is nonnegotiable. The weapons of the resistance are a red line, and we won’t exchange it for reconstruction [of the Gaza Strip] and humanitarian aid.”

The assumption that a long-term ceasefire would lead to “cooling-off time” is misguided. As in the past, Hamas and other Palestinian terrorist groups will exploit any period of calm to rearm, regroup and resupply.

In the past, Hamas leaders also met with Western officials, but that did not prevent them from pursuing their jihad against Israel. In the past, some Hamas officials also mentioned the possibility of reaching a long-term truce with Israel, but that feint did not stop the terrorist group from firing rockets toward Israeli towns and cities or preparing the October 7 massacre.

A ceasefire deal will allow Hamas to remain in power and prepare more massacres against Israel. The only solution for the current crisis is for Hamas to disarm, cede control over the Gaza Strip and leave the Palestinian arena.

Khaled Abu Toameh is an award-winning journalist based in Jerusalem.