Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently published an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, drawing out three prerequisites that must be met before there can be peace in Gaza.
Netanyahu began the piece by plainly stating the three prerequisites, writing that “Hamas must be destroyed, Gaza must be demilitarized, and Palestinian society must be demilitarized.”
The Israeli prime minister went on to suggest that Hamas — the terrorist group responsible for the slaughter of 1,200 Israelis on October 7 — is a “key Iranian proxy” and that it must be destroyed before there can be peace in the region. He wrote that the U.S., U.K., Germany, France, and other supporting countries have made it their intention to take out the terrorist organization.
Netanyahu noted the only “proportional response” to ensure that Hamas will not carry out more attacks in the future is to destroy the organization itself. “Anything less guarantees more war and more bloodshed,” Netanyahu added.
“This is especially challenging because an integral part of Hamas’s strategy is to use Palestinian civilians as human shields,” the prime minister wrote. “Hamas places its terrorist infrastructure inside and underneath homes, hospitals, mosques, schools and other civilian sites, deliberately putting the Palestinian population at risk.”
The Hill recently reported that the Biden administration, while in support of Israel, has signaled that it wants an eventual end to the conflict. The report added that there have been internal and external pressures on the Biden administration to push for peace in the region.
Netanyahu also vowed to “continue to act in full compliance with international law,” but he stated that this can be difficult since Hamas militants use Palestinian civilians as human shields. The prime minister wrote that it is paramount to protect civilians during the conflict.
“Unjustly blaming Israel for these casualties will only encourage Hamas and other terror organizations around the world to use human shields,” Netanyahu wrote. “To render this cruel and cynical strategy ineffective, the international community must place the blame for these casualties squarely on Hamas.”
In its attempt to demilitarize Gaza, Netanyahu said Israel would need to maintain “overriding security responsibility in Gaza,” going on to dismiss the potential of the Palestinian Authority watching over the territory.
The prime minister said it “will require establishing a temporary security zone on the perimeter of Gaza and an inspection mechanism on the border between Gaza and Egypt that meets Israel’s security needs and prevents smuggling of weapons into the territory.”
In an attempt to deradicalize the region, Netanyahu said that the leadership would need to change in the region. The education of children in Gaza would also need to be re-evaluated.
“Successful deradicalization took place in Germany and Japan after the Allied victory in World War II. Today, both nations are great allies of the U.S. and promote peace, stability and prosperity in Europe and Asia,” he wrote.
Netanyahu concluded: “Once Hamas is destroyed, Gaza is demilitarized and Palestinian society begins a deradicalization process, Gaza can be rebuilt and the prospects of a broader peace in the Middle East will become a reality.”
