To date, Hamas has repeatedly violated humanitarian cease-fires brokered by the UN and the U.S. and rejected any notion of disarming.
When Israeli newspapers reported the contents of Kerry’s cease-fire proposal, which reportedly included elements crafted by the leaders of Qatar (Hamas’s financial and political sponsor) and Turkey (whose leaders have ratcheted up their anti-Israel rhetoric in recent weeks), it was derided across the Israeli political spectrum as well as by Egyptian and PA officials.
The cease-fire agreement would have delayed disarmament of Hamas until the completion of a comprehensive peace agreement with the Palestinians and allowed Hamas to control financial and commercial rehabilitation efforts in the aftermath of the fighting.
Despite the widespread approval in Israel for the military operation in Gaza, questions are being raised about what many see as the government’s failure over the past several years to take proactive measures against the building of the Gaza terror tunnels.
According to Israel’s Foreign Ministry, $1.25 billion donated by various governments (including the U.S.) for the purpose of building hospitals, schools, and municipal infrastructures in Gaza was diverted by Hamas leaders to create well-stocked, concrete-lined underground tunnels across Gaza since 2007.
Dozens of angry residents who fled kibbutzim along the Gaza border when hostilities broke out three weeks ago say that for years they heard construction work on the tunnels. Maj.-Gen. (res.) Yaakov Amidror, Netanyahu’s former national security adviser, admitted the IDF knew about the tunnels years ago and warned Israeli leaders about them. However, he said, the IDF had failed to come up with a multi-pronged operational plan to attack Hamas’s tunnel building brigades, which according to several reports included children.