Former IDF spokesperson Jonathan Conricus warned on Tuesday that Hamas is openly violating the terms of the U.S.-mediated Gaza deal while exploiting U.S. pressure that has limited Israel's response, telling Newsmax that the terror group shows no intention of disarming and that the world is ignoring it.
The Foundation for Defense of Democracies senior fellow appeared on "The Record With Greta Van Susteren," where he said Hamas is openly testing the limits of international patience, and clearly believes it can get away with it.
"So when we look at the situation, Hamas is signaling very clearly that they understand that the U.S. and most of the world wants this peace deal really to succeed, and Hamas understands that they can push the envelope," he said.
"And what we see Hamas doing is pushing the envelope everywhere, not returning remains of hostages, refusing to disarm, and of course, conducting blatant and premeditated attacks against Israeli troops.
"I think they understand that Israel is a bit bound here by the U.S. administration, and that Israel cannot respond currently as it would like to respond to these violations.
"So I think there's a bit of a reality distortion field around Gaza currently, because reality is that Hamas is really significantly violating the deal, but the distortion field says to Israel, you have to stay in the deal and not disrupt it," he added.
Conricus said Hamas is not simply refusing to comply; it is escalating. The issue, he argued, is larger than weapons alone.
Israeli security officials delivered a similar warning to lawmakers last week, telling the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that "the working assumption is that Hamas will not give up its weapons," despite the terror group's signed commitments under the mediated agreement to disarm and stay out of a postwar technocratic Gaza government.
Van Susteren then asked who is actually leading Hamas in Gaza now.
"His name is Izz al-Din al-Haddad. He's the military commander. He rose to prominence after Mohammed Deif and Marwan Issa were eliminated. And he calls the shots.
"But at the end of the day, you know, they don't look as if they're disarming.
"They want to stay in power, they're settling scores with other Palestinians, and they need to be disarmed," Conricus said.
"But the big question is who will actually disarm them?" he added.
When asked how long Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will remain restrained, given all living hostages have been returned, Conricus said pressure from Washington is the decisive factor holding back Israel from forcing the return of deceased hostages as agreed.
"I think that, you know, the prime minister would probably have liked to respond and to do different things a long time ago.
"I'll remind everybody watching that Hamas was supposed to return all of the bodies of the murdered Israeli hostages within 72 hours, and that was almost two weeks ago," he added.
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Jim Thomas ✉
Jim Thomas is a writer based in Indiana. He holds a bachelor's degree in Political Science, a law degree from U.I.C. Law School, and has practiced law for more than 20 years.
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