News media, quoting Qatari officials, characterized Hamas' counteroffer to the hostage deal proposed by Israel as "positive."
However, details published in Arabic show that Hamas' demands go way beyond a swap of hostages for terrorists. It is a demand for full, public victory of Hamas in the war.
Once you get past the detailed plans of a three stage release of hostages and their bodies in exchange for thousands of terrorists, Hamas adds more general demands that would signal not only to the Arab world but to the world at large that Hamas unequivocally won the war.
One demand is to stop all Jews (they call them "settlers") from visiting their holiest site on the Temple Mount. It is an inherently antisemitic demand.
Another is "Ensuring the opening of all crossings with the Gaza Strip, the return of trade, and allowing the free movement of people and goods without obstacles. " This means no inspections on goods entering Gaza. Weapons can be freely imported without restriction.
It also means that terrorists could enter Israel from Gaza "without obstacles" to blow up schools and cafes.
Yet another is to "ensure that all wounded men, women and children are discharged for treatment abroad without restrictions." This allows Hamas and other terrorists to freely travel to Iran or elsewhere under the pretext of being injured.
They also demand that Egypt and Qatar "introduce sufficient heavy equipment necessary to remove rubble and debris." They could also be used for the next mass attack to slaughter thousands in Israel.
And also "the occupation's commitment to supply Gaza with its electricity and water needs." This seems to imply all Gaza's needs, making Israel into a slave to its Hamas masters. It also implies that the services be provided for free and forever.
In Hamas' world, Jews must be reduced to dhimmi status, meekly serving their Islamic masters.
This isn't merely Hamas retaining power, which is unacceptable by itself. This is Hamas being declared the unequivocal winner of the war, with it gaining permanent political and military achievements, and Israel not gaining a single thing it didn't have on October 6.
It isn't a deal. It is a demand for Israeli surrender.
But Hamas is smart: it worded these insane demands in the language of the anti-Israel leftists, whose decades of propaganda make them sound like human rights issues. Free movement from and to Gaza of people and material! Return to the "status quo" on the Temple Mount! The "occupier" should provide unlimited electricity and water to the occupied!
And because the world has been brainwashed, these demands aren't even mentioned in most news articles about the negotiations. They are treated as if they are a footnote to the hostage negotiations. They aren't: they have been the real goal of Hamas' murder and kidnapping spree to begin with.
This is similar to how the media treats the Palestinian Authority's consistent demands for "right of return" to destroy Israel - they downplay it as if it isn't serious, when in Arabic it is always presented as the most important issue.
Everyone knows that one must read the fine print in any agreement. But the world wants Israel to ignore the fine print here - and surrender.
