Israel’s Druze citizens have petitioned the government to extend military and humanitarian aid to their brethren in Syria who are increasingly unable to rely on the weakened Assad regime for protection against Islamic State. Caroline Glick sees an opportunity for Israel:

[I]n the humanitarian realm, Israel can set up refugee camps on the Syrian side of the border. It can arm the Druze villagers. It can protect them from the air. As for the nearly three-quarters-of-a-million Druze at Jebl Druze, [the Druze heartland in Syria], . . . they wish to defend and govern themselves in an autonomous region for the foreseeable future.

But to fend for themselves, they need weapons. Without arms, with the regime’s collapse seemingly imminent, it is possible that the Druze will be unable to survive. It is also possible that if Israel doesn’t provide them with weapons, someone else—perhaps Hizballah—will arm them and so buy their loyalty. . . .

If the government decides to act along these lines, it doesn’t mean that it will be in a position to start making long-term strategic plans that rely on Druze support. . . . [But by] helping them [Israel] can signal to others—for instance, the Kurds—that it can be trusted. . . . Given our own Druze community, our moral duty and national interest in ensuring their survival is self-evident.

For some time, opponents of U.S support for Israel have been urging the White House to end the war in Gaza, or simply calling for a ceasefire. Douglas Feith and Lewis Libby consider what such a result would actually entail:

Ending the war immediately would allow Hamas to survive and retain military and governing power. Leaving it in the area containing the Sinai-Gaza smuggling routes would ensure that Hamas can rearm. This is why Hamas leaders now plead for a ceasefire. A ceasefire will provide some relief for Gazans today, but a prolonged ceasefire will preserve Hamas’s bloody oppression of Gaza and make future wars with Israel inevitable.

For most Gazans, even when there is no hot war, Hamas’s dictatorship is a nightmarish tyranny. Hamas rule features the torture and murder of regime opponents, official corruption, extremist indoctrination of children, and misery for the population in general. Hamas diverts foreign aid and other resources from proper uses; instead of improving life for the mass of the people, it uses the funds to fight against Palestinians and Israelis.

Moreover, a Hamas-affiliated website warned Gazans last month against cooperating with Israel in securing and delivering the truckloads of aid flowing into the Strip. It promised to deal with those who do with “an iron fist.” In other words, if Hamas remains in power, it will begin torturing, imprisoning, or murdering those it deems collaborators the moment the war ends. Thereafter, Hamas will begin planning its next attack on Israel:

Hamas’s goals are to overshadow the Palestinian Authority, win control of the West Bank, and establish Hamas leadership over the Palestinian revolution. Hamas’s ultimate aim is to spark a regional war to obliterate Israel and, as Hamas leaders steadfastly maintain, fulfill a Quranic vision of killing all Jews.

Hamas planned for corpses of Palestinian babies and mothers to serve as the mainspring of its October 7 war plan. Hamas calculated it could survive a war against a superior Israeli force and energize enemies of Israel around the world. The key to both aims was arranging for grievous Palestinian civilian losses. . . . That element of Hamas’s war plan is working impressively.