Hamas destruction and Gaza demilitarization are prerequisites for peace, says Netanyahu in WSJ op-ed

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu emphasized the elimination of the terror organization Hamas and the demilitarization of Gaza as prerequisites for peace in a recent op-ed published in The Wall Street Journal.

The Israeli premier also added that the deradicalization of the Palestinian Authority is a third necessity to achieve genuine peace, following the unprecedented massacre of over 1,200 Israelis on Oct. 7, which started the war in Gaza. Both Hamas and its rival faction, the Fatah party – which leads the Palestinian Authority (PA) – have systematically incited hatred against the Jewish people and the State of Israel.

”Hamas must be destroyed, Gaza must be demilitarized, and Palestinian society must be deradicalized. These are the three prerequisites for peace between Israel and its Palestinian neighbors in Gaza,” Netanyahu stated.

The Israeli leader argued that Hamas remains a powerful threat and its leaders have openly stated their intention to commit future massacres against Israeli civilians.

”Hamas’ leaders have vowed to repeat the Oct. 7 massacre 'again and again.' That is why their destruction is the only proportional response to prevent the repeat of such horrific atrocities. Anything less guarantees more war and more bloodshed,” Netanyahu wrote.

The Israeli premier stressed that Israeli military operations in Gaza have been conducted in full accordance with international law. However, he blasted Hamas for systematically embedding its terror infrastructure within and under civilian areas, such as schools, mosques and hospitals.

”This is especially challenging because an integral part of Hamas’s strategy is to use Palestinian civilians as human shields. Hamas places its terrorist infrastructure inside and underneath homes, hospitals, mosques, schools and other civilian sites, deliberately putting the Palestinian population at risk.”

Placing the ongoing Hamas war in a wider global context, Netanyahu argued that the Jewish state was fighting against Islamist forces on behalf of the entire free world.

”It must recognize that Israel is fighting the bigger battle of the civilized world against barbarism,” Netanyahu wrote and stressed that long-term security and peace could only be achieved through the demilitarization and deradicalization of the residents of Gaza and the West Bank, known by its biblical name Judea and Samaria.

The Biden administration previously indicated it would like the PA to eventually assume responsibility for the Gaza Strip in a post-Hamas era. However, earlier this month, Netanyahu vowed that Gaza would be neither ruled by Hamas nor Fatah, which is run by 88-year-old President Mahmoud Abbas.

“Gaza will be neither Hamastan nor Fatahstan,” Netanyahu stated.

In his recent Wall Street editorial, the Israeli leader dismissed the notion that the PA is willing or capable of demilitarizing the Gaza Strip.

”The expectation that the Palestinian Authority will demilitarize Gaza is a pipe dream. It currently funds and glorifies terrorism in Judea and Samaria and educates Palestinian children to seek the destruction of Israel. Not surprisingly it has shown neither the capability nor the will to demilitarize Gaza,” Netanyahu assessed. “For the foreseeable future, Israel will have to retain overriding security responsibility over Gaza,” he added.

In presenting a long-term goal, Netanyahu emphasized that Arab children in Gaza and the West Bank must be taught tolerance rather than the ongoing indoctrination of hatred and terror incitement against Israel and the Jewish people.

”Schools must teach children to cherish life rather than death, and imams must cease to preach for the murder of Jews. Palestinian civil society needs to be transformed so that its people support fighting terrorism rather than funding it,” Netanyahu concluded.

However, it is currently unclear whether any form of a 'two-state solution' is part of Netanyahu’s regional peace vision.

In early December, the prime minister said that Hamas' aggression and the attack against Israel is evidence that the two-state solution would be a failure.

“I’m proud that I prevented the establishment of a Palestinian state because today everybody understands what that Palestine state could have been, now that we’ve seen the little Palestinian state in Gaza," Netanyahu argued.