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Hamas Isn't Acting Like a Defeated Force
(Times of Israel) Lazar Berman - No one seems to have informed Hamas that it has been defeated. Only two of the 20 clauses in the Trump ceasefire plan have been fully carried out, both of them concessions by Israel. It released thousands of Palestinian prisoners and gave up any potential plan to push Gazans to emigrate. Hamas is not trying to hide its weapons or its determination to violently eliminate any opposition in Gaza. It has carried out public executions, and its operatives have put uniforms back on, riding around Gaza in pickup trucks brandishing rifles. This is not the behavior of an organization that is about to hand over power and give up violence. The White House is clearly determined to maintain the ceasefire, and has taken the position that keeping Israel from responding in force will make it more likely for Hamas to be disarmed and toppled by other means. But that fundamentally misreads what Hamas is and what it responds to. If there is not a vigorous Israeli response to ceasefire violations, and a clear message from Trump that the IDF is free to respond to further violations, Hamas will continue pushing the bounds of the deal until it falls apart.