Yahya al-Sinwar, head of the Palestinian Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip, attends a meeting with people at a hall on the seashore in Gaza City. Photo: Yousef Masoud / SOPA Images/Sipa via Reuters Connect

JNS.org – This week, Israel offered a ceasefire deal to Hamas of “incredible generosity.” Those were the words of U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Then everybody waited and waited until the great “no” came.

At precisely the same time, Hamas fired on Israeli positions, killed four soldiers and wounded 11 others, two of them seriously. The fire came from Rafah—in the southernmost part of the Gaza Strip—where Hamas leaders hide in the depths of their tunnels, likely shielded by hostages. In Rafah, four of the terror group’s “battalions” are still operating.

Then the beleaguered southern city of Sderot was fired upon from Rafah, along with the very kibbutzim devastated by Hamas’s genocidal rampage on Oct. 7. Suddenly, Israel moved, taking the Rafah border crossing next to Sinai, moving 100,000 people from Rafah towards Khan Yunis and attempting to bring in more humanitarian aid.

At that moment, against all the cherished beliefs of the “good people” who think military action is counterproductive, Hamas announced that it accepted a “ceasefire.” Israel, understandably, dismissed the terror group’s perfidy. It knows now that Hamas is interested only in holding on to its hostages and protecting its genocidal leaders.

The reason is Hamas’s absurd demands. Its monstrous leader Yahya Sinwar is offering only 33 hostages, of which—he claims—only 18 are still alive. The release will be staggered, which means it can be stopped at any moment. In exchange, Israel will hand over dozens of murderers and terrorists. All the while, Hamas guzzles Iranian and Qatari weapons and cash. Then Sinwar, the perennial liar, pledges that a definitive ceasefire will be enacted.

Of course, all other possibilities are rejected, mainly because of the Biden administration’s perfidy. Clearly, the administration is now determined to prevent an Israeli victory and rescue Hamas. This was underlined by Biden’s recent decision to withhold a major arms transfer to Israel. He did so while hypocritically condemning antisemitism and Oct. 7 denial at a Holocaust memorial ceremony.

Ironically, this perfidy only prolongs the war. If they are being saved by the Americans, what possible motivation does Hamas have to agree to anything? Biden may want peace, but he appears oblivious to the fact that only Hamas’s destruction will bring it. A rescued Hamas means more war. If Biden wants to save civilians and bring the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to an end, nothing he can do makes this less likely than his policy of saving Hamas.

This absurd policy also strengthens all of Israel’s and America’s enemies: Hezbollah, the Houthis, Iraqi militias, and, above all, the monstrous tyranny in Iran.

It is clear that the Biden administration lacks moral clarity, a viable political plan and a comprehensible policy that will bring peace. The only good that has come from this perfidy is that it has united Israelis behind the imperative of entering Rafah and finally destroying Hamas.