Secretary of State Antony Blinken recently visited Middle Eastern capitals speaking about the importance of creating an “irrevocable” path to a Palestinian state. Douglas Murray comments:

As Israeli politicians of left, right, and center have told me in recent months, even if you believe that the Palestinians should be given another state, now is not the time to discuss it. To push for a two-state solution now is to say to the Palestinians “You carried out a horrific terror attack on October 7th, and as a reward you will be given another state.” I wonder how many more terror attacks will come about by incentivizing terror in this way?

But the other reason why it is so wicked is that since 2005 we know what a Palestinian state in the West Bank would look like. It would not just be one more failed Arab state. It would be another Palestinian terror state. One which had views over the entirety of Israel and where the rockets could this time easily hit Tel Aviv, Haifa, and Ben-Gurion airport.

Two-states? It’s not a solution. It’s part of the problem.

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.