The recent terrorist attacks have highlighted the collapse of the Israeli political echelon's line of reasoning, which has been fueled by the defense establishment for over a decade. The idea – that Israel could reach a partial understanding with Hamas through Egypt and Qatar and reign the terrorist organization in – has turned out to be unfounded.
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Hamas enjoys the quiet, the relief, and the cash flowing into the Gaza Strip while trying to cause a flare-up in Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria and inciting against Israel on social media.
Although Gaza has been relatively quiet in recent months (one rocket was launched into Israel in January), it is a false quiet. On Wednesday, authorities began to distribute monthly Qatari stipends to around 100,000 families in Gaza, and on Thursday, Qatari Ambassador Mohammed Al-Emadi – who is also head of the Qatari Committee to Reconstruct Gaza – arrived in the strip to meet with senior Hamas officials.
The group has many demands. Along with increasing the number of Gazans permitted to work in Israel, Hamas' Water Authority has called on the international community to accelerate the creation of a desalination plant in the region. So the plan is to make Gaza into a stronghold and in the meantime, gain political and military ground in Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria, and even within the Green Line.
Just last week, a Shin Bet and Israel Police investigation revealed Hamas terrorism activity in Jerusalem led by operative Khaled Sabah and funded by senior Hamas members residing in Turkey. Sabah and three other suspects have been indicted on suspicion of transferring funds to families of terrorists. Authorities have also uncovered Hamas infrastructure in Judea and Samaria in recent months, with operatives planning terror attacks.
Since last year's conflict in Gaza – officially known as Operation Guardian of the Walls – Hamas and terror groups in the strip have mostly focused on the Arab sector in Israel in order to recruit terrorists to carry out attacks. Earlier this month, they even set up an organization aimed at supporting Arab Israelis in their "struggle." The vast majority of Israeli Arabs are law-abiding citizens, which is why Hamas has turned to Israel's weakest link – the Negev, which for years has suffered from neglect and chaos.
Although Muhammad Abu Qi'an – the terrorist who carried out an attack in Beersheba on Tuesday – is a known supporter of the Islamic State, history has taught us that members of the terror group do not shy away from cooperating with Hamas. At the very least, Qi'an was exposed to Hamas' incitement on social media. One way or another, Hamas spokesperson Mohammad Hamadeh said the attack reflected the path of Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, who was assassinated on March 22, 2004 – the same day the attack in Beersheba took place.
As such, the Israeli leadership will soon need to abandon its policy which has proved a strategic failure. Reality shows that Hamas gets stronger with each escalation, and tries to cause more flare-ups in between. Therefore, just as the government has declared that it must attack "the head of the Iranian octopus" rather than focus on its proxies, so it must do with regard to Hamas.
Just like Iran, Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar and Ismail Haniyeh ad other senior members of the terrorist group also reside safely in Gaza, Qatar, and Turkey, while Israel is forced to fight terrorism within its borders.
Just as Israel intercepts Iranian drones, so too it must act directly against Hamas headquarters in Turkey, Qatar, and Gaza. Otherwise, it will find out that the southern front is no less dangerous than the northern one.
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