In the past few days, the IDF and Shin Bet have conducted a series of successful raids in Nablus against the terrorist group known as the Lions’ Den, killing one of its leaders and destroying a bomb factory. A relatively new organization, based in Samaria and opposed to the Palestinian Authority, the Lions’ Den is responsible for numerous attacks in recent weeks. Residents of Nablus are now reportedly frustrated that leaders of Hamas and Islamic Jihad haven’t intervened on their behalf, as Yoni Ben Menachem writes:

It is Hamas that in recent months has pushed the residents of the West Bank and east Jerusalem towards a new armed intifada against Israel while promising that it would actually support such an intifada and assist it by firing rockets from the Gaza Strip. Hamas also leads a large support campaign for Lions’ Den via social media and even transferred more than a million dollars to finance its activities. However, despite this support, no rockets were fired from the Strip towards Israel.

Senior Hamas and Islamic Jihad officials threatened yesterday that the Gaza Strip “will join the conflict in the event of an imminent escalation in the West Bank,” as if there had been no escalation until now. Why has the Gaza Strip remained silent so far?

There are several reasons: a) pragmatism on the part of the Hamas that wants to keep receiving monthly Qatari financial aid to the Gaza Strip, the continued entry of thousands of workers from the Gaza Strip to work in Israel, and the humanitarian relief and rehabilitation of the Gaza Strip from the damage done in recent wars; b) Hamas has still not restored the tunnel system and rocket production that was severely damaged in the war of May 2021; c) Israel learned the lessons from its military operation in May 2021 and formulated a new strategy of . . . severing the connection between the Gaza Strip, on the one hand, and east Jerusalem, the West Bank, and Israeli Arabs, on the other.

The big question is whether the deterrence of Hamas and Islamic Jihad will continue even if Israel conducts a large military operation in Nablus and Jenin to eliminate the terrorist infrastructure.

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.