While many of us were celebrating Christmas, Egypt popped up with an interesting new wrinkle in the Israeli-Hamas war. After having largely tried to keep themselves out of the toxic stew brewing in Gaza, the Egyptians came forth with what many described as a bold, overarching peace proposal. They suggested a complete cessation of military action by Israel in Gaza. In exchange, Hamas would agree to step aside from governmental control and allow the election of a new Palestinian parliament. Hostages and prisoners would be exchanged and the rebuilding of Gazan infrastructure and the flow of humanitarian aid could resume. As expected, the terrorists flatly rejected the offer and said that no further progress could be made until Israel completely withdrew from Gaza. So a potential Christmas miracle was apparently taken off the table entirely. (NY Post)

Hamas and Islamic Jihad terror groups operating in Gaza have rejected an Egyptian-led truce proposal with Israel that would see the militants relinquish power in return for an end to the war, sources say.

The terrorists, who conducted the Oct. 7 massacre in Israel, have refused to take part in one of the biggest conditions laid out by negotiators in Cairo on Sunday: an end to Hamas’ reign in Gaza by forming a Palestinian parliament and holding free elections, according to two Egyptian security sources.

The terrorist organizations instead reiterated that the only thing they’re ready to discuss is a prisoner swap that would see more than 100 Israeli hostages released in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners being held in Israel’s jails.

We should at least give the Egyptian government credit for making an effort here, though I’m not sure how good of an idea this would have been. Allowing Hamas to “step aside” and authorize the election of a new parliament would be the equivalent of treating a patient with a broken leg with painkillers but not setting the fractured bone. Bibi Netanyahu has made it clear ever since October 7 that Hamas must be destroyed root and branch so they can’t regroup, rearm, and renew their efforts to destroy the state of Israel and exterminate the Jewish people. That is their only stated reason for existence.

Even if a new parliament were to be elected, if they began acting as if they were willing to cooperate with Israel and live alongside them in peace, Hamas would probably start attacking them sooner or later as well. For his part, Netanyahu rejected the Egyptian deal as well, saying that the war will only end when “we finish them. No less than that.”

Of course, there is another option on the table as there has been from the beginning. Hamas could end this mess at any time by agreeing to have every last one of their fighters and organizers surrender en masse and immediately release all of the hostages. They would need to be prepared to go to prison, but they could end the destruction of the Gaza Strip and open the door to an era of peace for their people. That would be the honorable thing to do, but you rarely see the words “honor” and “terrorists” colliding in the same sentence.

Unless there is a radical change in the attitude of Hamas’ leadership, it sadly appears that Israel needs to continue its work rooting out the terrorists and destroying their network of tunnels. Once the rats have been forced out into the open, it should be far easier to hunt them all down. Then and only then can we have a serious discussion about the next steps for the “civilians” in the Gaza Strip. Unfortunately, it appears that there can be no peace with terrorists.