Hamas Strengthens- מתחזק החמאס

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"When we await Hamas' response, we've lost. Their continuing existence, and now as an international presence, increases sympathy, and fighter morale."

Bin Laden was putting out blurry audio tapes from his bunker. Scruffy Saddam Hussein was hiding in a rat hole. Gaddafi was in a drain pipe. Ismail Haniyeh is visiting NATO Turkey. Sinwar goes to the beach. Meshal gives press conferences and gives interviews from his five-star hotel. And Hamas leaders just hosted the Malaysian Prime Minister.

What happened to prevention? What happened to deterrence? What happened to not negotiating with terrorists? Every time that we hear that the world and Israel is waiting for Hamas to respond, we have lost. Why?

This is Hamas. It's an underground, literally underground terrorist organization. They have no tanks, no planes, no helicopters, no official foreign relations. They barely have access to the outside world.

And now for half a year, they've been on par, they've been even, with one of the strongest militaries, one of the strongest intelligence services, and one of the richest countries in the world. Their continuing existence is a tremendous victory for them. And becoming a bona fide international presence is a dream come true.

Every day they survive, they increase their world support and their sympathy. Every day they survive, they increase the morale of their fighters, who are waiting for a light at the end of the tunnel, waiting for Israel to continue to cave to the American, to the European, and to the UN pressure. Every day their fighters in Gaza and Yehuda and Shomron, which some people call the West Bank, are emboldened. And every day other terror groups see Israel as increasingly weak, because no one is afraid.

Take the non-combatant Gazan, whatever that means. Non-combatant, meaning he's the one who only hid the hostages but didn't kidnap them. The one who hands out candy and he only cheers as the Jewish bodies are dragged through the streets in Gaza. He should be terrified. He should be terrified of the presence of a terrorist. He should be terrified of the presence of a hostage. He should be terrified that his whole neighborhood will be blown up, that the commandos will come charging in, but he's not. And that's why he doesn't turn them in.

And don't tell me collective punishment. Where's collective punishment when American Jews have to hide in college campuses? Where's collective punishment when a 20-year-old Israeli singer has to be protected from every European? We've said this a hundred times. The negotiations are a dead end and they have been from day one.

The only way Hamas can accept a deal is if they can remain in power. And if they remain in power, Israel can't accept the deal. It's a dead end and it always has been.