No Phase Two

The first phase of the three phase ceasefire deal ends on Saturday and the two parties are getting farther apart on continuing it as we’re told in a report from CBN.com:

For Israelis, this will be the first weekend in six weeks that Hamas-held hostages, living or dead, will likely not be freed. Both the U.S. and Israel are sending top negotiators to Cairo to work out an agreement for the return of the remaining hostages.

Israel wants to continue phase 1 to get all the hostages back before talking about ending the war:

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar stated, "We are ready to make the framework longer in return for (the) release of more hostages."

Israel has the backing of the US on extending phase 1, but added that the war can’t end with Hamas in charge:

America's top Middle East negotiator, Steve Witkoff, is headed to the region to push for extending the ceasefire. Yet, he is plainly noting, "There's no room for Hamas in Gaza, in the West Bank. You can see from their actions that they haven't earned that right to be there."

On that point Hamas predictably is standing firm. Sa’ar agrees with Witkoff:

Hamas is also absolutely refusing to disarm. Sa'ar made clear Israel can't put up with that. He said, "This is, from our point of view, totally unacceptable."

The Israeli Defense Minister also agreed with Witkoff and Sa’ar:

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz agrees that Hamas must no longer be allowed to govern or have the means to fight in Gaza. “Hamas will not remain in control of Gaza, neither for civil matters nor militarily," he declared. "It will not be because it cannot be.”

Katz also stated that Israel will not leave the southern border regardless of how things go:

Katz also confirmed that Israel won't let go of the vital Philadelphi Corridor through which Hamas smuggled most of its weapons. He announced, “The IDF is maintaining a defined buffer zone in Gaza."

Overall, this impasse should have been expected since two of the three goals of the war for Israel are eliminating Hamas from ever being a threat to them:

Israel's long-term goal is to prevent Hamas from getting close to the Jewish nation and maintaining the weapons to attack again.

As an Israeli source told Israel National News, "We won't allow the Hamas murderers to return to wandering with trucks and rifles on our border, and we won't allow them to rebuild themselves through smuggling."

Fighting On All Fronts

During the first phase of the ceasefire Hamas has been busy preparing to fight:

However, The Wall Street Journal reports Hamas is ready to return to guerilla warfare if the ceasefire ends. The group has recruited thousands of new troops, has appointed new commanders, and has turned unexploded ordnances into deadly I.E.D's to detonate against Israeli troops.

Taking control of the West Bank where terrorists are causing issues may include renaming the area according to one US Congressman:

As for the territory much of the world calls the West Bank, another U.S. Congressman is now insisting his people officially call it "Judea and Samaria," the biblical names for the land of Israel's history.

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Brian Mast wrote in a memo to the committee, "Jewish roots in this region span centuries and we must recognize that fact in both word and deed." He added that Congress needs to "recognize Israel's rightful claim to the cradle of Jewish civilization."

Hamas-led terrorists are carrying out this guerilla warfare already inside Israel:

On the ground, at least ten people were wounded in a ramming attack at a bus stop in central Israel, apparently carried out by a Palestinian who was living illegally in Israel.

The PM is worried that such violence will increase now:

The Netanyahu government is concerned about an outbreak of terror attacks in Judea and Samaria, especially as the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan begins Friday evening.

Often, there has been an upsurge in terror attacks during that time.

None of these things come as a surprise to me. For those of us who live in Western cultures we see things through the filter of wanting peace and honoring our agreements. That is not the case with these terrorists. They are willing to be martyred for their cause and even hope that their children will also grow up to that. Surrender is not in their vocabulary, either. As for this current ceasefire they will break it at anytime if it helps them. This view of truces and ceasefires goes all the way back to Mohammed when he made an 8 year deal with a group of Jews that would keep them safe from him. He broke it three years in when he had a strong enough army and he slaughtered them. This ceasefire only served to help them regroup and to get more terrorists back in their ranks who can help lead their next attacks on Israel. 620 more dangerous prisoners were released in the last exchange alone. Those released were part of the same people who were released in a previous hostage return and were arrested again for carrying out attacks on Israel again. Trust me when I tell you that Hamas will only respect force. Diplomacy will not end this war. I highly doubt that a second phase of this ceasefire will work. But if Hamas thinks that the next wave of the IDF offensives will be like the first one, they have another thing coming. Trump gave Netanyahu the green light and my prayer is that he ends Hamas once and for all.