Disarm Hamas forever! About a political paper issued by the Middle East Forum

The Middle East Forum, one of the American think tanks affiliated with hawks in the United States, issued a political paper entitled "Disarmament of Gaza" written by one of the Israeli army generals, "Yossi Kuperwasser," the former head of the research department in the Military Intelligence Division of the Israeli entity's army, in which he reviews the flaws The Israeli approach in dealing with Gaza, which allowed the development of Hamas's military capabilities in the Strip and increased its control, which therefore constitutes a permanent threat to Israel's security that the latter must get rid of at all costs. This is what "Kuprwasser" proposes in the paper, a decisive and preventive strategy that includes a number of policies on several levels that Tel Aviv must follow to ensure victory and get rid of the threat, according to him.

In fact, the desire to present a very short summary (based on what the article accommodates for) of this political paper that was issued two days ago lies in the importance of exploring the current shift in the methodology of Israeli political and military thought regarding dealing with the Palestinians in general and with Gaza in particular, and then the possibility of preparing A Palestinian for such future and serious Israeli proposals, which I believe will resonate in light of the state of intolerance in Israeli society and the weakness in the international community.

Two main topics that the paper talks about:
The first is the defects of the policy of “mowing the lawn”: this is the name given by the author of the paper, General “Kuprwasser” to the Israeli rounds of escalation against Gaza or / as he says / against Hamas in (2008-2009, 2012, 2014, 2021), all of which ended with the annexation of Severe damage to Hamas' military capabilities, but it failed to prevent Hamas from arming itself. Kuperwaser says that the most prominent defects of the policy of mowing the lawn are that it allowed Hamas to think that its legitimacy and existence cannot be compromised, as well as giving it self-confidence to develop its military capabilities and increase its power in the Palestinian political arena. This is because of a set of Israeli rules such as: abstaining from the possibility of launching a ground operation, not using economic sanctions on Gaza for a long time, not targeting leading figures in Hamas, and the lack of responses to Hamas operations outside the Gaza Strip, and even the Israeli response to Hamas is often calculated. And within the circle of deterrence. In addition to Israel's commitment during military operations to international humanitarian law and limiting collateral damage, according to his point of view!!

The second topic that the paper talks about is: formulating a decisive and proactive strategy to force Hamas to accept new rules that rid Israel of the threat that pursues it on the one hand, and highlight its strength in front of the Palestinians as a whole on the other hand, and constitute a strong deterrent message to Hezbollah, Iran and their allies on the third hand.

The "Cooperasur" strategy includes military, economic, diplomatic and legal contexts, in addition to changing the rules of the game and changing the political discourse and the concept of Israeli victory, which must center on the complete disarmament of Hamas and preventing its rearming.

In the military and operational context, "Kuprwasser" suggests reaching a comprehensive and effective intelligence dominance over Gaza to prevent any attempt to launch rockets before they happen, and to eliminate Hamas activists of any level whatsoever. He also says that Israel must gain self-confidence to launch air, sea and land operations (through a secure environment) against the "terrorist" infrastructure in Gaza, as it does in the West Bank and the Syrian front. This is done through a newly developed ability in the field of harnessing the capabilities of the entire intelligence community for soldiers on the battlefield, and improving the protection provided to them by strengthening military tools such as troop carriers, ammunition and anti-missile weapons. The "Kuprwasser" military plan also includes conducting more training operations on the border with Gaza and mobilizing reserve soldiers and secret operations to deliver an unmistakable message to Hamas and the rest of the factions that Israel is ready to adopt a new and severe proactive and offensive stance.

In terms of the diplomatic context, the writer says that Israel must exploit its regional relations and security cooperation to formulate a joint effort with Egypt, Turkey and the recent normalization countries to put pressure on Hamas and force it to reassess the situation, just as Israel succeeded in disengaging Hamas from Sudan. It also demanded that UNRWA remove all hate books and stop defending its employees belonging to Hamas, he said.

On the economic level, the flow of funds or economic aid that could benefit Hamas, directly or indirectly, must be prevented. Conditioning the flow of funds and foreign aid to stopping Hamas building its military arsenal.

The success of this strategy requires a game-changer, according to the author's general. Those rules that need to be changed include:
1. The base of the discourse on Gaza in Israeli society: Conviction must be instilled in society that Israel must not only respond and avenge the missile attacks, but also choose the time, place and initiative to force Hamas to disarm and stop the threat.
2. The rule of separation between the military and political leadership in Hamas.
3. The basis of pressure on Gaza by adopting long-term economic sanctions.
4. The rule of separation between Hamas operations outside Gaza and the attack from Gaza.
5. The basis for the diplomatic response to the public incitement of Hamas.
6. The rule of dealing with UNRWA is towards considering it as part of the problem and not the solution.
7. As for the rule that should not be reconsidered, it is the rule of adherence to international law, because Israel is a "moral" state, according to his claims!! Israeli efforts to prevent and disarm Hamas will not be met without criticism, but nevertheless it is very important for the Israelis to know that they are doing the right thing.

The aforementioned is a very brief summary of what Yossi Kuperwasser talked about in his political paper, but its goal can be deduced very simply, which is the call for waging a devastating war on Gaza with an intellectual preparation of the Israeli community and the international community for the human and political cost of this call! I invite you to read the paper carefully.