Reading hard-left media or the propaganda produced by “pro-Palestinian” organizations, one forms the impression that the IDF is constantly launching random attacks on Palestinian civilians in the West Bank. But write to a Palestinian university about coming for a semester abroad, and you will be told that students “live normal lives” and that “the media exaggerate” the situation. Furthermore, writes David Collier, the selfsame NGOs devoted to harping on the “brutality of the occupation” reassure prospective volunteers that, if they are wise about avoiding riots, they’ll be fine:

[Representatives of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM)] point out that injuries can occur at demonstrations. They suggest [that similar injuries] . . . would occur if you were to take such actions in “many places in the world.” Secondly they state that when working in the field, either at checkpoints, schools, or in the towns, the risk of any injury is “low or non-existent.” . . .

In fact, Palestine is a perfect place for Westerners to volunteer. . . . These areas are close to Europe, cheap to get to, incredible to travel around, sunny, and most of all secure. Given the proximity and cost, there are few better alternatives today to volunteering in “Palestine,” and none working on the premise of humanitarian aid are anywhere near as safe.

Yet, at the same time, most of the people arriving in Palestine have never seen conflict and have never left first-world comfort. . . . Even though it’s perfectly safe, someone coming from the West is likely to view the life of the Palestinians as being harder than anything they have seen. . . . . That the lives of those in the West Bank may be better than almost everyone else in the region does not cross their minds. . . .

But manipulating young Western students with no sense of history and who are legitimately shocked by realities that are harsher than those of their university dorms doesn’t take much in the way of political genius—simply a willingness to lie in the service of a cause. These NGOs knowingly mislead people who may truly believe the Palestinians are randomly being murdered in the streets—because they know they can lie and still receive funding from Western governments.

Tamir Hayman analyzes the latest reports about an offer by Hamas to release three female soldiers in exchange for 150 captured terrorists, of whom 90 have received life sentences; then, if that exchange happens successfully, a second stage of the deal will begin.

If this does happen, Israel will release all the serious prisoners who had been sentenced to life and who are associated with Hamas, which will leave Israel without any bargaining chips for the second stage. In practice, Israel will release everyone who is important to Hamas without getting back all the hostages. In this situation, it’s evident that Israel will approach the second stage of the negotiations in the most unfavorable way possible. Hamas will achieve all its demands in the first stage, except for a commitment from Israel to end the war completely.

How does this relate to the fighting in Rafah? Hayman explains:

In the absence of an agreement or compromise by Hamas, it is detrimental for Israel to continue the static situation we were in. It is positive that new energy has entered the campaign. . . . The [capture of the] border of the Gaza Strip and the Rafah crossing are extremely important achievements, while the ongoing dismantling of the battalions is of secondary importance.

That being said, Hayman is critical of the approach to negotiations taken so far:

Gradual hostage trades don’t work. We must adopt a different concept of a single deal in which Israel offers a complete cessation of the war in exchange for all the hostages.