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British Foreign Secretary's Patronizing Advice Would Doom Israel to Defeat


(Telegraph-UK) Col. Richard Kemp - British Foreign Secretary David Cameron has virtually called on Israel to surrender to Hamas as it prepares to destroy the terrorist group in Rafah. His call for a ceasefire is exactly what Hamas wants and has demanded from Israel - an end to the war that it is catastrophically losing. For Israel, destroying Hamas in Rafah is non-negotiable. Would Cameron have called for a ceasefire as Allied troops were poised to cross the Rhine in March 1945? Of course Israel cannot halt its offensive now any more than the Allies could then. Like a schoolmaster lecturing a recalcitrant schoolboy, Cameron has told Israel to "stop and think very seriously before it takes any further action." Who does he think he's talking down to? Does he seriously believe the Israeli war cabinet and general staff have not been working round the clock for months, "thinking seriously" about every action they take in this war? If Cameron had his way, and the operation in Rafah were suspended or cancelled, what would have been the point of the last few months of fighting inside Gaza? The remnants of Hamas would quickly regroup, re-arm and renew their decades of violent aggression against Israeli civilians. Those who really want to end the bloodshed should not be giving Hamas hope by condemning Israel's future prosecution of the war. The writer, a former commander of British forces in Afghanistan, was chairman of the UK's national crisis management committee, COBRA.
2024-02-15 00:00:00
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