If Hamas Isn’t Defeated, ‘It’s Open Season on Israel,’ Experts Say

On Monday, 24 Israeli soldiers were killed in the Gaza strip while attempting to establish a buffer zone for residents of the communities on the Israeli border so they could return home. It was during this process that a blast was triggered and two buildings collapsed. The fatal explosion made victims of two dozen soldiers, a tragedy that The Times of Israel called “the single deadliest incident since the start of Israel’s ground offensive in the enclave.” Several other soldiers were severely wounded.

Since the beginning of the war between Israel and Hamas, there’s been no shortage of pain and suffering. Thousands have died, many are still held hostage, and deadly conflict threatens to spread throughout the Middle East. Amid all the chaos, death, and destruction, many wonder: why keep fighting? Caroline Glick, a senior contributing editor at the Jewish News Syndicate and host of the “Carolyn Glick Show,” has an answer. 

“We lost 24 soldiers [Monday]. It’s a big blow to the country. It’s a big blow to the families,” she shared on “Washington Watch with Tony Perkins.” But the hard truth is that “the fight must go on,” because this is “a fight for Israel’s survival,” she urged.

Since October 7, mass casualties have resulted on both sides. But at the heart of the matter, Glick emphasized, Hamas is a terrorist organization that has vowed not to end their brutal attacks until Israel is extinct. She pointed out that “Hamas, in and of itself,” does not “pose an existential threat” in the sense that they have atomic bombs. But rather, they’re a force that won’t stop building itself back up again, no matter the blows it receives. She emphasized, “They don’t have anything that animates them as a people other than killing Jews.”

But Hamas is not alone in their fury against the Jews. As Glick discussed, Israel has many enemies. Iran could be considered the “head of the snake,” with Hamas, the Houthis, Hezbollah, and other terrorist organizations connected to the Islamist regime. “And if we don’t finish the job with Hamas,” she added, “what we’re telling everybody is that it’s open season on Israel.”

Perkins pointed out that the Biden administration wants a two-state solution. Few involved in the war agree with that course of action, Glick noted. A two-state solution “would be a massive reward for terrorism,” she said. “There’s no support in Israel whatsoever for this, but … there’s no support among the Palestinians” either. She explained that the majority of Palestinians don’t want a two-state solution because they “just want to annihilate Israel.”

 “I mean, it’s hard for us to get our heads around because [Hamas is] so evil and it’s so different from us,” she continued. “They worship death, and they seek literally to kill us all. … It’s not just in their charter. It’s what they say, and it’s what they do.” So essentially, Glick said, the Biden administration is asking Israel “to choose between impossible alternatives.” Perkins added, “It’s not the reasonable man theory.” Compromise is what Biden and the Left are pushing for, Glick agreed, but “you can’t compromise on this when it’s a zero-sum game.”

She emphasized that there are a “quarter of a million Israelis who are living as internal refugees,” both from the south and from the north, who won’t stop fighting. Ending the war with a cease fire, she warned, would leave “Hamas in power … Hezbollah at the border … [and] Iran to be nuclear.”

“After October 7th, everybody’s eyes are open to the danger,” Glick concluded. “[W]e’re a country that loves life, and we insist on surviving.”