By Ashley Church

The recent ceasefire between Israel and Hamas was announced with much fanfare promising a halt to fighting, phased exchanges of hostages and prisoners, discussions on Gaza governance, humanitarian access, and a pathway toward the disarmament of Hamas.

Within days, Hamas had broken it – twice.

Yes, Israel has since resumed it and is working to ensure that aid convoys get though – but these efforts will ultimately prove to be in vain.

Why? Because Hamas cannot adhere to a durable peace. Doing so contradicts its very reason for existing.

• Hamas is a militant Islamist jihadist movement founded in 1988.
• In Hebrew, ḥamas means “violence.”
• After Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005, removing every Israeli, Hamas chose rockets, tunnels, and human shields over state-building.
• Hamas has ruled Gaza since being elected in 2006. It then mounted a bloody coup to eliminate opponents and has dispensed with elections since then.
• Hamas is funded and supported by regional patrons and, indirectly, by agencies such as UNRWA – whose controversies are well documented.
• Hamas’ stated objective was never peaceful coexistence. It seeks the elimination of Israel and the creation of a Caliphate “from the river to the sea,” openly framing permanent war as doctrine.
• The barbarity of Oct 7 flowed directly from that charter and ideology. Article 5 infamously says: “The Day of Judgment will not come about until Moslems fight Jews and kill them.”

While many naively believe that the recognition of a ‘Palestinian’ state is the solution to the issues – history says otherwise.

Israel has repeatedly come to the table with offers of sweeping concessions – only to have them rejected, often followed by terror campaigns like the Second Intifada.

A deal requires a partner who accepts Israel’s existence; Hamas does not.

This is why the ceasefire is already wobbling. The terms require restraint, verification, and disarmament; Hamas’ identity requires perpetual “resistance.”

Those two realities can’t live in the same house. Any lasting peace will have to bypass or replace Hamas with actors who accept coexistence and the sanctity of life—Israeli and Palestinian alike.

Bottom line: You can’t create peace with a movement whose charter makes peace a sin.

To watch an interview in which I spell out why ‘peace’ with Hamas wont work, click https://tinyurl.com/6kyzt5j3

To learn more about the background of this protracted conflict, click https://tinyurl.com/4b3rbsrz