Top of Mind Thursday – January 16, 2025: It Ain’t Over Till It’s Over

Yesterday, there was much fanfare about a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas that would bring home at least some of the people held hostage in Gaza for 15 months.

The proposed agreement was troubling in many ways. It called for 30-50 terrorists imprisoned in Israeli jails to be released for every hostage returned. It said those people could not be re-arrested—even if they committed additional acts of terrorism. It didn’t specify which hostages are still alive and which are deceased. And it called for the return of only 1/3 of the people still held hostage.

Hamas operatives were cheering in the streets, because the deal was so favorable to them. Yet, Israel was willing to go along with this to get at least some of their people back. Biden and Trump praised the deal, as they both want to see this situation resolved and off their plates.

This morning, it appears Hamas is changing their mind. They want to choose who is released from Israeli prisons, and they are insisting on some of the worst offenders—those responsible for killing hundreds of innocent people. Not surprisingly, Israel said no dice. We have a deal (based on a proposal made last May!). You need to stick with that agreement.

While it’s not clear yet how this will work out, it exposes something many of us feared: You can’t negotiate with terrorists who change the rules on an ongoing basis. You can’t expect people who have a different moral code (one which says it’s acceptable to sacrifice your women and children for the cause) to act the way we in the West expect. When the stated goal is the annihilation of an entire people (pushing Israel from the River into the Sea), steps toward reconciliation and peace are suspect.

The hostages still being held in Gaza—dead or alive—deserve to come home. Their families deserve to have closure, one way or the other. But until the world recognizes the absurdity of the situation and puts pressure on the terrorists to comply with their own agreement, nothing will be resolved.

It ain’t over until the pressure is on Hamas to make it so.

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