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The Arguments for Blocking Israel's Operation Against Hamas in Rafah Don't Stand Up to Scrutiny
(Wall Street Journal) Editorial - Secretary of State Antony Blinken told NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday that Israel's taking Rafah won't achieve anything. "Israel is on the trajectory potentially to inherit an insurgency with many armed Hamas left or, if it leaves, a vacuum filled by chaos, filled by anarchy, and probably refilled by Hamas." This is defeatism. What remains of Hamas could attempt an insurgency, but that's a lower risk than leaving Hamas' four military battalions and leadership to survive in Rafah. The only way Israel can fill a "vacuum" with a day-after plan is if it reaches the day after by defeating Hamas in Rafah. Any plan to replace Hamas depends on victory in its last Gaza stronghold. The truth is that the war isn't over, and Hamas will win if it keeps control of Rafah and its people. Israel has already evacuated some 400,000 Gazans and won much of eastern Rafah while keeping civilian casualties low. Advancing only a few neighborhoods at a time, Israel has been faster and more effective at getting civilians to safety than the U.S. expected.