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Source: https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/22773/bribing-hamas-will-not-bring-peace-it-will
Bribing Hamas Will Not Bring Peace - It Will Finance the Next War
(Gatestone Institute) Khaled Abu Toameh - According to a recent report on Israel's Channel 11, the Gaza Board of Peace is considering paying Palestinian terrorists thousands of dollars in exchange for surrendering their rifles. Participants in the internationally funded program would also be required to renounce violence. The proposal rests on dangerously flawed assumptions. The first is that Islamist terrorists can be persuaded to abandon jihad (holy war) in exchange for money. The second is that those who surrender weapons will genuinely renounce terrorism. In 2020, the group's slain leader, Ismail Haniyeh, proudly revealed that his group had rejected an offer worth $15 billion in development projects for Gaza. The package reportedly included an airport, a seaport, industrial zones, massive economic projects, and the lifting of restrictions imposed by Israel and Egypt. The only condition was that Hamas dismantle its military infrastructure, surrender its weapons, and integrate its fighters into civilian institutions. Haniyeh's response was: "Our principle is Palestine from the [Jordan] River to the [Mediterranean] Sea," making clear that Hamas preferred its jihad against Israel over billions of dollars in international investment. Why would anyone believe that paying individual Hamas members a few thousand dollars today would produce a different outcome? It will not. The terrorist group consciously choses war over prosperity. It refuses to abandon its ideological commitment to destroying Israel. Anyone still claiming that Oct. 7 was caused by economic hardship should listen to Haniyeh's admission. Hamas had a choice. It deliberately chose terrorism. Even if Hamas agrees to "store" some heavy weapons, it does not need heavy weapons to massacre civilians. It would continue to possess tens of thousands of automatic rifles. Allowing Hamas to retain small arms means allowing it to preserve its ability to murder again. Money does not moderate jihadists; it strengthens them. Jihadists do not become peace activists because they receive a paycheck. They are driven by ideology and religious extremism. For them, armed jihad is a divine obligation. No rehabilitation seminar can erase decades of indoctrination.