Every new ceasefire in Gaza is announced with the same weary optimism, as though this time the rockets will stay grounded and the walls will stop shaking. If history teaches anything though, it is that Hamas does not lay down its arms, and Hamas has already refused to do so this time around.
When Donald Trump first occupied the White House, Hamas learned to wait. When power shifted to someone more pliable, it resumed firing. Its strategy is one of patience, understanding that democracies tire of vigilance, and that Western compassion can be weaponized just as easily as Iranian rockets.
The current peace proposal is but another pause between wars. It buys time for Hamas to rebuild, to recruit, to retrain, and to wait for a softer president, and it assumes goodwill where there is none. It in fact funds the next rise of Hamas, in the form of aid into Gaza that Hamas will of course steal.
A durable peace cannot rest on naïveté. It must rest on moral clarity, institutional permanence, and an understanding of evil.
Let us talk evil. Hamas’ official charter from 1988, which is still in effect, includes the following.
“Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it” (The Martyr, Imam Hassan al-Banna, of blessed memory).”
“Our struggle against the Jews is very great and very serious. It needs all sincere efforts. It is a step that inevitably should be followed by other steps. The Movement is but one squadron that should be supported by more and more squadrons from this vast Arab and Islamic world, until the enemy is vanquished and Allah’s victory is realised.”
“The Islamic Resistance Movement is a distinguished Palestinian movement, whose allegiance is to Allah, and whose way of life is Islam. It strives to raise the banner of Allah over every inch of Palestine, for under the wing of Islam followers of all religions can coexist in security and safety where their lives, possessions and rights are concerned. In the absence of Islam, strife will be rife, oppression spreads, evil prevails and schisms and wars will break out.”
“The Islamic Resistance Movement is one of the links in the chain of the struggle against the Zionist invaders. It goes back to 1939, to the emergence of the martyr Izz al-Din al Kissam and his brethren the fighters, members of Moslem Brotherhood. It goes on to reach out and become one with another chain that includes the struggle of the Palestinians and Moslem Brotherhood in the 1948 war and the Jihad operations of the Moslem Brotherhood in 1968 and after.
“Moreover, if the links have been distant from each other and if obstacles, placed by those who are the lackeys of Zionism in the way of the fighters obstructed the continuation of the struggle, the Islamic Resistance Movement aspires to the realisation of Allah’s promise, no matter how long that should take. The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him salvation, has said:
“”The Day of Judgement will not come about until Moslems fight the Jews (killing the Jews), when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say O Moslems, O Abdulla, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him. Only the Gharkad tree, (evidently a certain kind of tree) would not do that because it is one of the trees of the Jews.” (related by al-Bukhari and Moslem).”
“The Islamic Resistance Movement believes that the land of Palestine is an Islamic Waqf consecrated for future Moslem generations until Judgement Day. It, or any part of it, should not be squandered: it, or any part of it, should not be given up. Neither a single Arab country nor all Arab countries, neither any king or president, nor all the kings and presidents, neither any organization nor all of them, be they Palestinian or Arab, possess the right to do that. Palestine is an Islamic Waqf land consecrated for Moslem generations until Judgement Day. This being so, who could claim to have the right to represent Moslem generations till Judgement Day?
“This is the law governing the land of Palestine in the Islamic Sharia (law) and the same goes for any land the Moslems have conquered by force, because during the times of (Islamic) conquests, the Moslems consecrated these lands to Moslem generations till the Day of Judgement.”
“Initiatives, and so-called peaceful solutions and international conferences, are in contradiction to the principles of the Islamic Resistance Movement. Abusing any part of Palestine is abuse directed against part of religion. Nationalism of the Islamic Resistance Movement is part of its religion. Its members have been fed on that. For the sake of hoisting the banner of Allah over their homeland they fight. “Allah will be prominent, but most people do not know.”
“Now and then the call goes out for the convening of an international conference to look for ways of solving the (Palestinian) question. Some accept, others reject the idea, for this or other reason, with one stipulation or more for consent to convening the conference and participating in it. Knowing the parties constituting the conference, their past and present attitudes towards Moslem problems, the Islamic Resistance Movement does not consider these conferences capable of realising the demands, restoring the rights or doing justice to the oppressed. These conferences are only ways of setting the infidels in the land of the Moslems as arbitraters. When did the infidels do justice to the believers?
“But the Jews will not be pleased with thee, neither the Christians, until thou follow their religion; say, The direction of Allah is the true direction. And verily if thou follow their desires, after the knowledge which hath been given thee, thou shalt find no patron or protector against Allah.” (The Cow – verse 120).
“There is no solution for the Palestinian question except through Jihad. Initiatives, proposals and international conferences are all a waste of time and vain endeavors. The Palestinian people know better than to consent to having their future, rights and fate toyed with. As in said in the honourable Hadith:
“The people of Syria are Allah’s lash in His land. He wreaks His vengeance through them against whomsoever He wishes among His slaves It is unthinkable that those who are double-faced among them should prosper over the faithful. They will certainly die out of grief and desperation.”
“The question of the liberation of Palestine is bound to three circles: the Palestinian circle, the Arab circle and the Islamic circle. Each of these circles has its role in the struggle against Zionism. Each has its duties, and it is a horrible mistake and a sign of deep ignorance to overlook any of these circles. Palestine is an Islamic land which has the first of the two kiblahs (direction to which Moslems turn in praying), the third of the holy (Islamic) sanctuaries, and the point of departure for Mohamed’s midnight journey to the seven heavens (i.e. Jerusalem).”
“In face of the Jews’ usurpation of Palestine, it is compulsory that the banner of Jihad be raised. To do this requires the diffusion of Islamic consciousness among the masses, both on the regional, Arab and Islamic levels. It is necessary to instill the spirit of Jihad in the heart of the nation so that they would confront the enemies and join the ranks of the fighters.”
“‘I swear by the holder of Mohammed’s soul that I would like to invade and be killed for the sake of Allah, then invade and be killed, and then invade again and be killed.’ (As related by al-Bukhari and Moslem).”
I could post more antisemitism baked into that charter, but I think you get the point. Hamas wants to exterminate the Jewish people. Their goal is to take everything ‘from the river to the sea,’ and to kill every Jew, not only in Israel, but on Earth. Their charter is not one calling to run a state, but to destroy one.
It is not a charter to unify a people, but a call to genocide.
Every “defeat,” every tower flattened, every international headline of devastation, strengthens Hamas’ narrative that Israel is a colonial monster, and that martyrdom is the only path to dignity. Each ceasefire becomes a breathing space in which to rearm and re-indoctrinate.
Hamas’s calculus is simple: when a strong U.S. president signals that further attacks will result in annihilation, it pauses. When a weaker administration replaces him, one bound by political correctness and constrained by moral relativism, it resumes. The West, bound by election cycles and the illusion of diplomacy, cannot sustain deterrence the way a totalitarian movement can sustain hate.
The cycle unfolds predictably:
- Tactical Withdrawal. Under intense military pressure, Hamas retreats, hides its command structure in tunnels, and appeals for international sympathy.
- Aid and Reconstruction. Billions of dollars in humanitarian relief pour in. Some comes from well-meaning Western governments, much comes from Qatari and Iranian patrons. Materials meant for homes and hospitals are diverted to bunkers and rockets.
- Re-Legitimization. Western universities and NGOs, often funded by the same state actors who bankroll Hamas, recast the organization as a “resistance movement.” The language of liberation replaces the language of terror. Note the very real language that I reprinted, from the first half of their charter, above.
- Rebuilding. Tunnels are dug anew. Militants train in the shadows. Propaganda saturates classrooms and social media.
- The Return of Weakness. A new American president, eager to be “even-handed,” relaxes sanctions, releases frozen assets, or signals fatigue with Middle Eastern entanglements.
- Renewed War. A spark, a border incident, a propaganda video, an alleged Israeli provocation of some kind, ignites the next conflict. If Israel does nothing, Hamas does October 7. Note that Hamas promised that October 7 was not a one-time event but something that it will do again, and again, and again, until either it, or Israel, is destroyed.
Each loop tightens the moral confusion of the West and deepens the despair of Gaza’s civilians.
The deeper failure is not military but moral. The West continues to treat Hamas as though it were a political actor with grievances that can be appeased. It is not. Hamas is a theocratic death cult whose charter calls explicitly for the destruction of Israel and the murder of all Jews, everywhere on Earth.
You cannot negotiate compromise with an organization whose identity depends on annihilation. To Hamas, peace is not coexistence but the absence of resistance to its goals. The Muslim states in the area could absorb the people of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, but they consider those people martyrs whose duty is to die in the struggle to destroy Israel.
Many of the people in Gaza consider themselves martyrs, and openly celebrate the deaths of their sons and daughters, if they die in the struggle to kill Israeli citizens – including Islamic Israeli citizens.
There is no such thing as a ‘Palestinian.’ The Palestinians did not start calling themselves that until 1964, with the creation of the Palestinian Liberation Organization. Prior to that, they called themselves either ‘Egyptian,’ or ‘Jordanian.’ That is their lineage – there has never been a Palestinian state or a nation called ‘Palestine.’
Meanwhile, the surrounding Muslim world, Qatar most prominently, sustains this pathology through money, media, and mythmaking. Palestinians are not empowered; they are sacrificed. Their suffering becomes the currency by which Hamas purchases international sympathy and regional legitimacy. The people of Gaza are not merely victims of war, but hostages of ideology.
The present U.S.-backed framework is built on four illusions:
- That Hamas can be reformed through inclusion.
In reality, inclusion grants legitimacy. Hamas interprets negotiation not as progress but as proof that violence works. - That aid promotes moderation.
Most aid promotes dependence — and when Hamas controls distribution, it reinforces its own power structure. - That governance can be transferred peacefully.
Any attempt to install a technocratic authority without Hamas’s consent will be treated as occupation, and international peacekeepers will be targeted as invaders. - That hatred fades with opportunity.
Hatred fades only when it becomes morally indefensible within its own culture — and no such transformation is underway.
Unless these illusions are confronted, every Western dollar sent to rebuild Gaza will finance the next generation of rockets.
If the West truly desires long-term peace, it must build systems that endure beyond any one presidency. Deterrence cannot be personal. It must be structural.
1. A Multinational Deterrence Framework
A joint security compact, including the United States, United Kingdom, France, Egypt, Jordan, and selected Gulf states, must replace ad-hoc coalitions. Violations of the ceasefire should trigger automatic, pre-agreed responses: targeted strikes, sanctions, or aid suspensions. Enforcement must not depend on the temperament of a single leader, and future American Presidents need to be fully onboard with carrying those responses out.
2. Financial Starvation of Militancy
- Aid should be delivered in kind, not in cash, and tracked end-to-end using transparent digital ledgers. Hamas must be prevented from stealing and selling aid.
- Any entity proven to divert materials for militant use must face immediate exclusion and sanctions.
- Crowdfunding and cryptocurrency channels linked to Hamas should be aggressively shut down, and charities acting as fronts must be prosecuted under anti-terror finance laws.
- Qatar and Iran must be held accountable for state-sponsored incitement and financing. Their economic partnerships with the West should carry moral conditions, not just market terms.
3. De-Qatarizing the West
Qatar’s billions flow not only to Hamas but into the veins of Western academia, buying silence through endowed chairs and think-tank grants. This soft power corrodes Western clarity from within. Universities accepting foreign money must disclose donors and content restrictions. No civilization can defend its values if its intellectual class is for sale.
4. The Ideological Counteroffensive
Peace requires a moral revolution within the Arab world — one that reclaims Islam from those who have weaponized it.
Moderate clerics, educators, and entrepreneurs must lead this movement. The West can support it through Arabic-language media, education programs, and economic initiatives that replace martyrdom with dignity.
The message must be consistent: martyrdom is not honor; it is the theft of a generation’s future.
5. Governance Reform
Long-term stability depends on a technocratic Palestinian authority with regional legitimacy but independence from both Hamas and Fatah. Reconstruction funds must flow only through audited, depoliticized channels. Each milestone, be it disarmament, transparency, or public works, should unlock the next phase of funding. Anything less repeats the corruption cycle that birthed Hamas in the first place.
6. Institutional Continuity
The West must create standing oversight bodies whose mandates outlast electoral cycles: permanent monitoring of tunnels, shipments, and border integrity; annual reporting to multinational committees; enforcement mechanisms immune to political fashion. Only institutions, not personalities, can outlast the patience of zealots.
The West’s challenge is not only military or diplomatic. It is cultural.
In much of the Western Left, moral inversion has become orthodoxy: the aggressor is the victim, and the victim is the oppressor. Hamas exploits this inversion masterfully. Its media arms saturate Western social channels with images of grief stripped of context, turning compassion into complicity.
To resist this manipulation, Western institutions must rediscover moral coherence. Educators, journalists, and clergy alike must be willing to say, clearly and without qualification, that Hamas is evil. It is not “misunderstood,” and it is not “reactionary.”
It is evil.
Until that truth is spoken without apology, Western culture will remain the unwitting partner in its own undermining.
Progress will not be measured by handshakes on White House lawns or photo ops in Doha. It will be measured by realities on the ground:
- Zero rebuilt tunnels verified by independent inspection.
- Aid diversion under two percent, audited by neutral third parties.
- Polling within Gaza showing support for armed struggle dropping below thirty percent.
- Regional enforcement of sanctions within seventy-two hours of violations.
- Visible, continuous multinational presence maintaining oversight, not as occupiers but as guarantors of peace.
Anything less is a managed illusion.
Hamas will not make peace because peace would end Hamas. Its entire identity depends on perpetual struggle. The organization is not seeking a homeland so much as a holy war.
When Western diplomats offer reconstruction funds or power-sharing arrangements, Hamas sees only an opportunity to rebuild its arsenal, restock its propaganda, and re-educate its children to hate.
This is why deterrence must be continuous, not conditional. Peace must be defended as actively as war is fought.
The problem, ultimately, is not Gaza alone. It is a Western world that confuses virtue with surrender and tolerance with blindness. Peace cannot be purchased with compromise when compromise means moral collapse.
The United States and its allies must reject the temptation to “balance” good and evil as though they were equal weights. Evil cannot be balanced. It must instead be defeated, or at a minimum, contained. The West once understood that. It must remember again.
If history unfolds as expected, Hamas will abide by Trump’s peace for a while, calculating that an American change in administration will restore its freedom to act. The only question is whether we will learn from experience before that day arrives.
To prevent the next war, the West must fight three battles simultaneously against terrorism’s financiers, against its propagandists, and against our own moral fatigue.
The illusion of peace is worse than war because it blinds us to the preparation for the next one. Real peace is costly, disciplined, and morally anchored.
And sometimes real peace only comes through the working end of a gun.
