ArcaMax

Hamas' release of three Israeli women it kidnapped and held hostage for 471 days provided quite the split-screen on Sunday. Israelis rejoiced that these young innocents had finally made it out of Hamas tunnels alive. Hundreds of Gazans surrounded the cars carrying the women to freedom, cursing them and vowing -- guess what? -- to continue a murderous jihad against Jews.

This is no surprise to anyone who has seen the footage of Hamas gunmen returning to Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023, with the maimed or lifeless bodies of Israelis they had just savaged. Gazan society was demonstrably gleeful about the savagery, and celebrated their heroes -- for the pulverizing, the burning to death or blowing to pieces and dismembering of Israeli civilians as they hid in their homes or frantically tried to flee a music festival.

Here's the difficult truth: this is the society that American taxpayers have subsidized unconditionally since Gazans chose Hamas to rule them back in 2006, paying for the "reconstruction" of Gaza every time Hamas attacked Israel and Israel sought to defend itself. Our money flowed when buildings used by Hamas to shield themselves got destroyed and civilians that Hamas used as human shields got killed. The billions of dollars that the international community has pliantly handed over to Hamas, including hundreds of millions from America, has been ripped off again and again -- money that was supposed to be used for humanitarian aid instead used to construct tunnels and rocket factories.

Each time Hamas has murdered Israelis while continuing to consign Gazans to misery, it declares "victory." Despite having claimed endlessly that Palestinians are the victim of a "genocide" -- persuading the reliably gullible in some notoriously vapid quarters to amplify the claim -- Hamas again exults in what it maintains was a big win. Oct. 7 "marked an important turning point in the history of the Palestinian cause," proclaimed Khalil Al-Hayya, head of Hamas' negotiating team, "and what happened on Oct. 7 in terms of military and security achievement will remain a source of pride for our people and our nation and will be passed down from generation to generation."

Terrific.

Here's what happened on Oct. 7: Thousands of Hamas gunmen invaded Israel, slaughtered 1,200 Israelis and kidnapped about 250 others, murdering many of those. Here's what then happened: Thousands of buildings in Gaza were demolished, and several tens of thousands of Gazans, including both Hamas gunmen and plenty of civilians, were killed. Infrastructure and schools were destroyed.

All thanks to Hamas. It takes no snappy logic to understand why what occurred in Gaza occurred. The "but for" cause of the devastation in Gaza is inarguably the decision by Hamas to invade Israel in order to massacre Jews. But for that decision, every building in Gaza presently flattened would be standing. Every Gazan now dead or injured would be alive and uninjured.

Tragically, every time over the last four generations Palestinians have had the chance to choose peace and progress, they have chosen violence and victimhood. And it continues. A poll taken by the respected Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research last September -- after a year of war triggered by Oct. 7 -- found that 54% of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank believed that the decision to invade Israel was the right one. Sixty-one percent pronounce themselves pleased with the role played by Hamas. Fifty-seven percent expect that Hamas will continue to rule Gaza after the war, and a plurality hopes that it does.

As always when it comes to this conflict, wishful thinking reigns. "I can tell you that the United States is committed to ensuring that Hamas never again resumes governing Gaza," said outgoing State Department spokesman Matthew Miller. "I think I can say with some certainty that a re-emergence of Hamas governing Gaza would be an absolute dealbreaker for Israel, as it should be, when you saw what happened on Oct. 7, and I would hope that it would be a dealbreaker for the Palestinian people."

One might hope so. But don't bet on it.

There's a reason that Abba Eban's observation that the Palestinians "never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity" gets quoted so frequently. We'll see if this time is different.

========

Jeff Robbins' latest book, "Notes From the Brink: A Collection of Columns about Policy at Home and Abroad," is available now on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books and Google Play. Robbins, a former assistant United States attorney and United States delegate to the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, was chief counsel for the minority of the United States Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. An attorney specializing in the First Amendment, he is a longtime columnist for the Boston Herald, writing on politics, national security, human rights and the Mideast.

Copyright 2025 Creators Syndicate Inc.