Hamas, the IDF and CENTCOM "Oversight"

8:22 PM Saturday.

Having completely failed to advance the Palestinian cause on every level, Hamas refuses to admit that 7 October 2023 was an atrocity of singular stupidity and cruelty. Hamas refuses to disarm immediately, thereby prolonging the conflict and trapping almost 2 million Gazan civilians in a wintry hellhole. The moral depravity of Hamas and its enablers at the end of a failed war is absolutely astounding and should be condemned by all fair and honest observers in the region and worldwide.

At the same time, the IDF is now responsible for approximately 360 Gazan deaths since the ceasefire began (if Gazan numbers are reasonably accurate). Most of them, apparently, are civilians. What possible reason can the IDF have for this disproportionate civilian killing? What military objective can Chief of Staff Zamir possibly hope to gain from these ceasefire violations? What strategic 8th front objective can the Foreign Ministry of Israel possibly hope to gain from them?

Now CENTCOM, charged with "oversight" of the ceasefire, may be directly implicated in IDF war crimes.

President Trump has been distracted, no doubt, by many competing demands on his attention, and possibly also by a chain of command reluctant to bring him bad news, but he must put his foot down. Trump must apply maximum pressure on Prime Minister Netanyahu. The IDF killing of Gazan civilians must stop. The US is charged with ceasefire oversight, which doesn't mean overlooking IDF war crimes. Trump applied maximum pressure on Netanyahu in October:

https://share.google/aimode/78lxVhWXhSRmtNlfi

He must continue to do so right up until their possible meeting at Mar-a-Lago at the end of December.

All of this would seem to be true regardless of whether one believes the best possible ultimate outcome is a two-state solution or some form of one-state solution.

Beyond the humanitarian implications for Gazan civilians and the legal implications for the IDF and CENTCOM, serious Israeli ceasefire violations may give Hamas a plausible basis for lawfully denouncing the agreement and resuming hostilities. This is not something that anyone should want to see happen.

End 9:52 PM.