On June 7, Hamas held its usual Friday demonstrations at the border with Israel. But this particular protest stood out, in that it was given the name “World Jerusalem Day” by its terrorist sponsors. Hillel Frisch notes the significance of this seemingly boilerplate title:

In the Arab world, it is public knowledge that World Jerusalem Day was one of the first commemoration days Ayatollah Khomeini created and placed on the official calendar of the newly created Islamic Republic of Iran in 1979. . . . Inevitably, [it is celebrated with] the chants, “Down with the great Satan, the United States, and the small Satan, the Zionist entity” and the burning of American and Israeli flags and effigies of American and Israeli leaders. Images of these events are then disseminated by the official Iranian media sites in Farsi, English, Arabic, and Turkish.

While Iranian leaders and their proxies are vocal on that day, Sunni Arab leaders never so much as mention it, let alone give speeches in its honor. . . . The Palestinian Authority is also clearly in the Sunni Arab state consensus in ignoring World Jerusalem Day. So linked is World Jerusalem Day with Iran and its proxies that even Hamas, a Sunni organization with traditionally strong ties with Iran, has refrained from commemorating it up to now.

This raises the question why Hamas has changed course. [Perhaps it is out of concern that] President Trump will successfully woo the Arab states to get behind his peace plan. Hamas must realize that placing World Jerusalem Day on the “resistance” calendar deepens the Palestinian divide that has existed since its takeover of Gaza twilight years ago.

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.