Truces, terror and terminology

Secretary of State John Kerry is in the wrong place, talking to the wrong people about the wrong thing. Last week he had already dragged Qatar, a Hamas backer, into the picture rather than support Egypt and Israel’s attempt for a no-conditions cease-fire. He then offered a proposal that in essence betrayed our ally Israel before jetting off to talk to European Union diplomats, presumably to attempt to foist his Hamas-friendly deal on Israel.

But what does Kerry do? He adopts Hamas’s position, undermining both Israel and Egypt, in putting out a proposal that would let Hamas keep its remaining missiles and tunnels. The Israeli government decried this as a “capitulation” to Hamas and was understandably “outraged.” In a tenure filled with gaffes, missteps and blinding vanity this is a new low for Kerry.

This certainly moves to center stage the problem of de-militarizing Gaza. It is proving much harder than anyone imagined because the dividing line between civilian and terrorist has been virtually eliminated by Hamas

If the Israelis can continue to dis-entangle missiles, suicide vests and rockets from the civilian population and to destroy the tunnels, then an end to hostilities can take place. But for now the essential work to destroy Hamas’s terrorist apparatus continues in a state of war. Apparently the Israelis will need to accomplish their objective despite Kerry’s meddling. And, by the way, Hamas, in embedding itself in civilian homes, is guilty of massive war crimes, responsible for each civilian casualty in those quasi-military sites and should be held to account. Kerry might bring up that unpleasant reality when chit-chatting with his European pals.