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Palestinian Arabs

Israelis surprisingly surprised by Hamas ceasefire ploy


By Stan Goodenough
April 27, 2008

News media in Israel Sunday expressed surprise that Hamas sees a ceasefire it is purportedly prepared to enter into with Israel as merely a tactic on the part of the terrorist organization.

We want a hudna with Israel so we can prepare to unleash a new wave of terrorism, said Damascus-sheltered Hamas leader Khaled Meshal, explaining his group's willingness to stop attacks from the Gaza Strip for the next six months.

Speaking on Al-Jazeera TV, Meshal said the ceasefire "is a tactic in conducting the struggle."

"It is normal," he added, "for any resistance that operates in its people's interest ... to sometimes escalate, other times retreat a bit. The battle is to be run this way and Hamas is known for that."

Hamas is indeed known for that. Which makes the apparent outrage communicated uniformly in the headlines of the center-left The Jerusalem Post, the left Ynetnews and the far-left Ha'aretz appear a little disingenuous.

This ceasefire is all for Hamas' benefit.

Meshal's killers have been badly mauled in recent IDF counter-terrorism operations.

The Palestinian Arabs in Gaza, control of which was violently seized by Hamas a year ago, have suffered increasingly as a result of the sanctions brought against Gaza by influential members of the international community, and by Israel's imposition of an on-again, off-again siege in the Jewish state's effort to force an end to rocket attacks on its towns.

Their hardship is making them a little less enamored of the Hamas leadership, and could eventually even lead to the deposing or assassination of some of those leaders, according to Israeli analyst Moshe Elad.

In his column published April 25 in Ynetnews, Elad wrote that "[t]he economic siege is indeed taking its toll, the public is impatient and conveys dissatisfaction with its leaders, yet Hamas heads are the ones who need the lull more than anyone. ... in order to be spared an assassination and in order to stop seeing their loved ones dying as martyrs every day."

It has always been an integral part of "Palestinian" strategy as the Arabs fight to see Israel destroyed that, when they believe themselves in danger of losing against the Jewish infidels, they deceive Israel by promising a ceasefire - not as a precursor for seeking peace, but in order to rearm, retrain and reposition themselves for the next phase in their war.

The Olmert government, like the governments that preceded it, appears to be falling into the same old trap. Instead of directing the IDF to press its advantage and crush the enemy, Jerusalem is considering backing off - an action that will ultimately only enable Arabs to kill more Jews.

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