|
Trending Topics
|
Source: https://www.ynetnews.com/article/bkztpqtrt
The U.S. Sees Gaza through Hamas' Optics
(Ynet News) Atar Porat - At a press conference ahead of the American mission to establish a causeway for aid in Gaza, Pentagon spokesman Pat Ryder was asked how the Administration was going to ensure the humanitarian aid reaches civilians and not Hamas. Ryder replied, "If Hamas truly believes that the Palestinian people are suffering, then why would they want to take this aid and use it for themselves to support their terrorist organization? One would hope that this aid will get to the people that are most deserving and in need." The U.S. assumes that at the end of the day, Hamas cares about the well-being of the Palestinians. However, Hamas is using the most powerful weapon in its arsenal, which is to create a humanitarian crisis in Gaza in order to generate international pressure. The fact that the U.S. has fallen for this Hamas tactic is shocking. It only reinforces Hamas' incentive to use the civilian population as a human shield since this strategy works. The administration's policy is consistently drifting toward hope-based optimism rather than being pragmatic, which raises serious concerns regarding their ability to develop realistic plans for the conflict going forward. For the U.S., the optics of the situation in Gaza supersedes long-term thinking.