No peace without the end of Hamas in Gaza

October 7, 2023, marked a blood-red date on Israel's calendar, and that of the Jewish people. The barbarity of Hamas and its accompanying hordes is unparalleled in the contemporary world, with its procession of violence, hatred, rapes, and massacres. 

In this distress, Israelis—and Jews more broadly—found solace in the indignation expressed by many governments over the fate of civilians, women, children, and even babies.

However, even before the IDF carried out its first bombings, justifications began to emerge. UN Secretary-General António Guterres highlighted "the context," effectively legitimizing these crimes and atrocities. 

The UN failed to see: the schoolbooks inciting hatred of Jews, the tunnels beneath hospitals, Hamas members taking refuge in its own schools, and its collaborators who participated in the October 7 pogrom—just as UNIFIL failed to see Hezbollah establishing itself 100 meters from its bunkers. History will judge the UN's indignity.

Alas, the solidarity movement quickly turned against Israel and the Jews, with waves of antisemitism that show no signs of abating.

Feminist associations excluding Jewish women from demonstrations, the murder of a young couple in Washington, and graffiti desecrating the names of the dead at the Holocaust Memorial—as if to kill them a second time.

Yes, as Bernard-Henri Lévy aptly wrote, Israel stands alone. A solitude that now seems to permit the most detestable expressions of hatred toward Israel and the Jewish people.

To hunt down the perpetrators of these abominable crimes, Israel was compelled to bomb Gaza, sowing death among civilians, women, and children.

No one can remain indifferent to such scenes of destruction and desolation. Too much blood, too many deaths. Hamas, for its part, continues to hold hostages. Who cares? Who has reacted to the atrocious treatments experienced by the hostages, who are only now beginning to dare to speak out?

Who was moved by the death of the Bibas children? Who is pressuring Hamas to release the hostages and thus remove any excuse from Prime Minister Netanyahu, taking him at his word: once the last hostage is freed, the war will end.

Where are the Arab countries capable of being heard by Hamas? Where are these virtuous NGOs, so quick to react to the slightest misstep by Israel?

I refuse to believe that their silence is due to the fact that the hostages are Jewish. Any state would take pride in working toward their return. It is a moral, humanitarian imperative. This should be the UN's foremost duty. France, the homeland of human rights, should set this objective above all others: to free the hostages.

The Israeli government's desire to protect its citizens from further attacks, by aiming to destroy Hamas, falls under its essential duty: ensuring the safety of its citizens.

To understand this imperative need, one only needs to listen to the testimonies of Israeli citizens. I will quote Julien Bahloul, journalist and former IDF spokesperson, who does not hide his opposition to Netanyahu, Smotrich, or Ben Gvir.

He emphasizes: "No one abroad can imagine what we are going through, like waking up every morning with the feeling that the date is stuck on October 7, 6:29 a.m. No one can imagine what it's like to check the lists of the dead, praying not to see a loved one's name..."

To understand this fear, one must recall the massacres of October 7 and the hundreds of rockets that have fallen on Israel for years, indiscriminately targeting civilians.

But beyond their fear, Israelis have not abandoned the hostages: 70% see their release as the government's absolute priority.

The Israeli government, in its nearly blind fight against Hamas, and the bombings that kill innocents, is alienating Israel's friends.

Israel has already lost the communication war. In many minds, alas, the original sin of the October 7 pogrom has been erased.

They no longer even know that Hamas holds hostages—or worse, they don't care. They only remember the slogans repeated by crowds often ignorant of the complexity of this conflict. 

Through its actions, this government reinforces their certainties, confusing targeted actions with a spirit of revenge.

Hamas, in its diabolical cunning and with the complicity of supposedly humanitarian organizations—or humanitarian except when it comes to Jews—has succeeded in making people believe that Israel is genocidal, while Hamas's primary objective is the pure and simple destruction of Israel.

What price to pay to destroy Hamas? Israel has already paid a considerable price: through its dead, by alienating its allies, with its reservists paying a heavy toll.

How far to go? Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should understand that the destruction of Gaza and entire families will only generate more hatred.

The conquest of territories for protection will lead only to endless wars. 

Israel has never been great because of the extent of its territories. Israel has always been great through its spirit and its values of humanity. This is what must triumph, above all, despite the repeated refusals of Palestinian authorities for a lasting peace.

Bill Clinton recalled the four times the Palestinians refused a state. It is not Hamas's actions that will bring peace.

I have personally worked for years on a peace campaign, whose main axes were presented at the World Economic Forum summit at the Dead Sea in 2005, before high-level representatives of the Palestinian Authority and the Israeli government, as well as over a thousand Arab officials from the region, applauding enthusiastically. This project, like so many others, was shattered by the rise of Hamas.

Israel must propose a peace plan, supported by a genuine peace coalition, including in particular Arab countries, the United States, and willing European countries—including France.

This plan should include: the end of Hamas, the demilitarization of Gaza, an independent interim governance under international control in Gaza and the West Bank, free elections, and the advent of a democratic power in Palestine, which will recognize the existence of Israel (and vice versa), within secure and recognized borders.

Then, the recognition of Palestine will take on its full meaning, and Israel will be able to engage in elections to elect a government committed to peace and harmony.