Yesterday, terrorists in the Gaza Strip fired a barrage of rockets into Israel, some reaching as far as Ashkelon. For the past several weeks, Gazans have launched dozens of balloon-borne explosives into Israel, and occasionally fired rockets as well, provoking a handful of limited Israeli airstrikes. To Hillel Frisch, the recent attacks show the cracks in Jerusalem’s ongoing understanding with Hamas—negotiated indirectly via Egypt—that has allowed the group to maintain control of Gaza and receive funds from Qatar and elsewhere:
After three-and-a-half years of an almost complete cessation of hostilities following the last beating Hamas took [during the 2014 Gaza war], the policy of [the past two years], by sharp contrast, has brought back the devastating missile trickle or the occasional missile flareup, with the incendiary balloons as icing on the cake, and the lessons couldn’t be clearer.
In fighting an enemy, you do what you do best, and avoid at all costs doing what your enemy does best. Extortion, khuwwa in Arabic, has a long tradition in the way Arabs fight. Israel has a distinguished record at hitting hard, massively, and quickly. It is high time to do what Israel is good at doing rather than engaging with an enemy in what it knows best.
Frisch also calls attention to a recent Hamas press conference in which a spokesperson explained to local reporters in some detail how the organization is disbursing some $78 million recently received from Qatar:
Hamas obviously feels the need to assuage the inhabitants of Gaza. So long as Gaza’s inhabitants think Hamas’s extortion is benefiting them, there is little hope they will serve as an opposition to the organization.
When they realize once again that Hamas policies come at considerable cost—the cost of a massive round of violence—[this calculus] might change, especially since Gaza’s inhabitants have been bearing almost the entire brunt of fighting for the Palestinian cause—as Arab states, Hizballah, and (since Yasir Arafat’s war against Israel in 2000) the Palestinian Authority encourage their sacrifice while they themselves stand as onlookers. It’s time to turn the heat on Hamas for the pain it exerts on Israel.
Read more on Jerusalem Post: https://www.jpost.com/Opinion/How-Hamas-is-spending-Qatari-money-618293