(Washington Free Beacon) Matthew Continetti - Less than a week has passed since Israel launched a ground campaign in Gaza and already there are calls for a ceasefire. Not only should these calls be ignored. They should be denounced. Why? Because calls for a ceasefire reward barbarism. Hamas terrorists spent years planning the murder of more than 1,400 Jews on Oct. 7, and Hamas terrorists continue to hold hundreds of captives, including Americans, while shelling Israel with indiscriminate rocket fire. Yet it is somehow Israel's responsibility to exercise self-restraint. Hamas, not Israel, is the aggressor. Hamas, not Israel, rejects international law. If Israel were to end combat operations now, with Hamas in control of Gaza and the captives, then the terrorists will score a remarkable victory. Harassment and attacks on Jews worldwide will surge. Hamas will regroup. Its ranks will swell. It will plot its next move. You cannot maintain a ceasefire against homicidal maniacs with genocidal intent. While President Biden has supported Israel, he has also taken pains to remind the Jewish state, like it is some sort of wayward pupil, to "uphold the laws of war" and protect civilian lives. The implication is that Israel is not obeying international law or doing everything in its power to avoid civilian casualties. And that implication is insulting. The writer is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.
2023-11-03 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive