Consul general of Israel in Miami: We must destroy Hamas before any ceasefire | Opinion
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Most Americans today will not personally remember December 7, 1941, the day the Japanese military launched a surprise attack on the U.S. Naval Base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii.
The attack killed 2,403 U.S. personnel, including 68 civilians. Although you may not have lived to witness the horror and devastation, every American likely remembers what President Franklin Roosevelt called a date which will live in infamy.
October 7, 2023, has become a day of infamy for the modern state of Israel. On that day, Hamas-ISIS terrorists launched a surprise, medieval-like, brutal attack across the Gaza border. Thousands of heavily armed Hamas terrorists barbarically killed more than 1,200 Israelis, the far majority of whom were civilians. More than 200, including babies, toddlers, women and elderly, were taken hostage. Many of those killed were raped and horrifically brutalized.
Proportionately, the attack on Israel is the equivalent of more than a dozen Pearl Harbors. The barbarism of Hamas goes far beyond even the worst atrocities of Dec. 7. It is the most horrific deadly day for the Jewish people since the Nazi Holocaust.
Unprovoked attack
No one could imagine America, or any other country in the world, suffering such a devastating, unprovoked attack and then accepting a cease-fire with the aggressor without first bringing the perpetrators to justice and to ensuring such an atrocity could never be repeated. The same can be said for the 9/11 attacks on the United States by al Qaeda terrorists.
No one should imagine Israel suffering such a devastating, unprovoked attack and accepting anything less.
Calls for a cease-fire in Israel’s just and forced-upon war against Hamas are calls that would give Hamas, and Iran, a victory. The results would be devastating for Israel, the wider Middle East and the entire free world.
Hamas would emerge stronger, spreading greater terror across the region and the world. Their Iranian sponsors would declare their strategy a success. Iran would then plan, fund and sponsor similar atrocities for its proxies across the globe.
Hundreds of thousands of Israelis who have had to flee border community homes would be forever threatened by Hamas’s promise that what happened on Oct. 7 will be repeated again and again.
Moderate voices for peace and reconciliation will remain terrorized with no choice but to continue capitulating to Hamas’s extremist ideology, or face death at the hands of Hamas barbarians. There will be no hope for a better future for the children of Gaza or Israel.
Israel cannot accept any ceasefire until Hamas’s ability to govern and act militarily against Israel has been destroyed to no less extent than the United States and her allies responded to Japan’s attacks of Dec. 7, 1941, and al Qaeda’s attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.
Peace-loving people across the globe must demand Hamas lay down their arms, release all hostages, surrender Gaza, and face just punishment for their crimes. There is nothing more important for Gaza’s civilians than freeing them from the yoke of Hamas’s reign of terror.
The Israel Defense Forces campaign in Gaza is today meticulously searching out Hamas terrorists, commanders, weapons, and command and control facilities which are primarily located in hundreds of miles of underground tunnels. The IDF’s concern for safeguarding Gaza civilians has already led to the loss of nearly 90 Israeli soldiers who are fighting significantly on the ground rather than exclusively from the air in the hope of minimizing civilian losses and returning our hostages.
Until Israel is victorious and Hamas surrenders, with patience and determination, all good people must stand with the brave men and women of the Israel Defense Forces. Our fight is the fight of all free people; it is the battle of good against evil. Our determination must be your determination. Our courage, your courage.
May God protect our soldiers, bless the state of Israel and continue to bless our greatest friend, the United States of America.
Maor Elbaz-Starinsky is consul general of Israel in Miami.
