Hamas attacks, Israel retaliates
Welcome to the Middle East, Mr. President. Here, peace is elusive, and tragedy is ever-present. That backdrop set the stage for the attack Hamas perpetrated against Israel on October 7.
Israelis decry it as the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. And it ignited yet another cycle of violence – with Israel vowing retaliation to eradicate Hamas.
Bipartisanship has been unheard of in Washington since everyone pretended to like Bob Dole. So it’s remarkable that both Republicans and Democrats have hailed Biden’s management of this latest flare-up.
He pledged to give Israel everything it needs and to stand with Israel, come what may. He even backed up that pledge by sending two carrier strike groups to the region – with this stern warning to Iran and its terrorist proxies: If you’re planning to attack Israel from the rear, don’t!
Israel has been prepping the battlefield for the past ten days by reducing Gaza to rubble. Sadly, if you didn’t know better, you’d think pictures of what Israel is doing to Gaza were pictures of what Russia has been doing to Ukraine.
That brings to mind a rather prescient post I penned last year. And the irony is almost too rich for words: “Israel Should Help Ukraine – if Only to Help Itself,” on November 30, 2022.
It’s a grim tableau. But Israel was strategically waiting until after Biden’s visit tomorrow to launch its “Special Military Operation.” Then, as if scripted by Quentin Tarantino, came today’s devastating explosion at a Gaza hospital.
Gaza hospital explosion derails Biden’s mission
Jordan has canceled a planned Wednesday summit between United States President Joe Biden and the leaders of Jordan, Egypt, and the Palestinian Authority after a blast at a hospital in Gaza killed hundreds of people, the country’s foreign minister announced.
(CNN, October 17, 2023)
The fallout from this explosion has been seismic. First, the Hamas attack on Israel derailed Israel and Saudi Arabia off their path toward normalization. Now this blast has derailed a regional summit to manage combustible tensions between Israel and Palestine. I smell a rat, don’t you…?
Meanwhile, the blame game has been swift. Palestinians blame an Israeli airstrike. Israelis blame a misfired rocket from Hamas’ brothers in terror, Islamic Jihad.
This is not just a deadly case of “he said, he said.” Because Israel has presented what it claims is evidence of the rocket’s misfire. The question is, who are you going to believe? I trust the answer is a no-brainer.
Still, Israel seems fated to make it as difficult as possible for Biden to help it help itself. And Let’s not overlook Prime Minister Netanyahu’s innate flair for diabolical mischief. In this case, it wouldn’t surprise me if he greets Biden’s arrival tomorrow by launching Israel’s much-anticipated ground invasion.
Frankly, this is a tragedy for Palestinians and a setback for Israelis. The terrorists lurking in Gaza, Lebanon, and Iran are the only ones who stand to benefit from this hospital explosion.
Jordan cancels regional summit
It was prohibitive enough that Israel kept bombing Palestinians in southern Gaza, where it ordered them to seek refuge. Then came this hospital tragedy.
After all, groups like Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and Hezbollah have no qualms about sacrificing innocent lives, even those of fellow Muslims. So, Jordan’s decision to cancel rewards terrorist mischief and adds yet another layer of complexity to an already volatile situation.
Apropos of which, I’d be shocked if one of these groups does not seize this opportunity to give Biden a taste of their menace. That, of course, would be by launching rockets that force this leader of the free world to hide in an Israeli bunker. That’s why I see no upside to Biden making this trip, especially with ally Jordan being so rattled that it canceled their planned summit.
Hamas and Israel have crossed the Rubicon
My sympathies lie with the everyday Israelis and Palestinians caught in this cycle of violence. There are no clean hands in this bloody mess. And all indications are that this latest cycle of violence will be the bloodiest yet.
Still, Biden is Israel’s most supportive president in history. So it’s notable that he takes pain to distinguish innocent, long-suffering Palestinians from the Hamas terrorists who lord over them in Gaza.
But it’s equally notable that Biden takes pain to remind Israel of its duty to abide by the generally recognized rules of war. He clearly wants Israel to avoid the kind of collateral damage that hospital suffered today.
The problem is that these so-called “rules of war” permit the commission of unspeakable death and destruction. Ask the Iraqis and Afghans who suffered US ground invasions to eradicate al-Qaeda and ISIS.
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