Hamas is not long for this world

There was long been a swell of sympathy for Hamas in the West. A certain leader of the opposition, you will remember, referred to them as his ‘friends’ and said that the UK government classifying them as a ‘terrorist organisation’ was a ‘big, big historical mistake’. He did not condemn Hamas this week. And he is not alone. The mass rallies on the streets of Britain in recent days have shown the level of support for a barbarism that for years has been quietly accommodated in this country. 

It is depressing how few people on that side of the argument have changed their position in the light of the savagery in Israel. Recent events have shown the world what Israel has been dealing with for decades: a species of intense jihadi savagery previously seen only in Islamic State. 

Reports of babies murdered and civilians burnt alive. Grandmothers executed on video or dragged away as hostages. Women and children raped, murdered and mutilated, their bodies paraded through the streets. I know I am not alone in being unable to properly assimilate these scenes. Yet the BBC refuses even to call Hamas ‘terrorists’. 

It should come as no surprise that Hamas shares its ideological roots with both Al Qaeda and Islamic State. All three sprouted from the Muslim Brotherhood, which in turn represented a toxic mixture of Nazi antisemitism and Islamist extremism. During the second world war, the Palestinian leader Haj Amin al-Husseini collaborated with Hitler in Berlin. Husseini adapted Third Reich ideology for the Arab world and spewed it into the region via the wireless. Down the generations, that hatred of Jews has endured. In Hamas’ attempt at a second Holocaust this week can be seen the shadow of the Führer.

Behind the latest attack sits the octopus of Iran, which is being appeased by America and whose revolutionary guards are allowed to operate without being designated a terrorist group by Britain. But how often have you seen that properly reported?  

Today we are subjected to endless voices condemning Israel’s ‘siege’ of Gaza and the lack of water in the territory, which is eclipsing the worst jihadi atrocity in history. Our sympathies are demanded with such insistence that it is starting to look like a propaganda operation. This is like the BBC reporting extensively on the sufferings of Germans during the second world war. So let us examine the situation properly, on the basis of a common starting point that all lives are equally precious. 

Gaza sits on top of an underground aquifer. For 18 years, while Hamas has neglected its water infrastructure and directed its resources towards funding terror, including tunnels, rockets, arms and explosives, Israel has been pumping in water, effectively propping up a jihadi regime for humanitarian purposes. The same goes for electricity and other resources. Now the rules have changed. 

Israel withdrew entirely from Gaza in 2005, leaving behind profitable farms and other facilities. These were destroyed by Hamas because they were seen to be tainted by the Jews.

Under the mismanagement, corruption and fanaticism that followed, Gaza’s economy crashed. Israel, of course, had to keep the border sealed to avoid the scenes of carnage that we have tragically witnessed in recent days. 

One thing is clear: if Gaza is an ‘open-air prison’, the true jailers are Hamas. Although Israel has been propping up Gazan society for years, it is under no legal obligation to pick up the tab for a foreign country, let alone one that is led by a regime that is hellbent on another Holocaust. And although many ordinary Palestinians loathe the terror group, an inconvenient fact is that in 2005 they elected them. 

In addition, Gaza borders not one country, but two. Egypt has not opened its border to refugees from the Strip, and its leader said this was because ‘we will not allow the Palestinian cause to be resolved at the expense of other parties.’ It seems that Israel is expected to provide humanitarian aid to its enemies when third parties refuse to do so (in stark contrast to the behaviour of the Arab states during the Syrian conflict). 

I daydream sometimes of a parallel reality in which Gaza embraced peace after Israel withdrew. If that had happened, the border would now be porous, with citizens moving freely to and fro. Trade and investment would flow. The beaches would be beautiful. Gaza would have its own water supply, electricity generators and airport. Hospitals and schools would be thriving. Only one thing has destroyed this vision: the rabid Israelophobia of Hamas, which as I say in my book, is the newest version of the oldest hatred. We saw that unbearably in recent days. 

But the reality could not be darker. How does a responsible democracy respond? When at war, a country wins or loses on the strength of its morale. That’s one of the many reasons why Israel will win. 

In contrast, the lack of water, fuel and food in Gaza is down to the failures of Hamas, which will create discontent among the population. This will weaken Hamas from within, making it easier for Israel to destroy this terrorist organisation. Moreover, Israel hopes it will convince Hamas to release its hostages, which it has threatened with execution. War is hell. But Hamas opened the gates to this darkness when it unleashed a wave of medieval barbarity on the Jewish state. It is not long for this world. 

It is all too easy to wag fingers from London, New York or Paris. Israel is locked in an existential crisis. It has suffered the worst jihadi attack in history, dwarfing 9/11 as a proportion of the population killed. After 9/11, the West invaded Iraq, causing more than 100,000 civilian deaths. The last time Britain experienced an existential threat, during the second world war, it firebombed the city of Dresden, burning up to 25,000 people alive. By contrast, even now, Israel is warning Gazan civilians about its attacks, giving them a chance to evacuate to schools or other places where they will be safe.

As I write, the airwaves are saturated with smug officials citing the lofty principles of ‘international law’. By and large, they belong to institutions that are shot through with Israelophobia. Last year, the United Nations General Assembly condemned Israel 15 times, more than the rest of the world combined. Israeli diplomats are bullied and undermined. In this climate, the principles of international law are weaponised against the Jewish state. 

We weep for every innocent life lost. We pray for peace, only peace. But the world must wake up. Israel is on the frontline of a battle that threatens us all. 

Israelophobia: The newest version of the oldest hatred, by Jake Wallis Simons (Constable, £12.99), is out now.