They made a request knowing that it was completely unacceptable. They’re negotiating in bad faith. Game on, release the dogs of war.
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From Hamas's standpoint, there is good cause for optimism. The Israeli Army broke off their attack in south Gaza. Hamas still has hostages. The US is beset with pro-Hamas demonstrations and Jews are under menace at elite US colleges and universities. Netanyahu is beleaguered politically and Israel's government and society are deeply fractured. Israel and Iran have exchanged direct attacks. The US has sanctioned an Israeli army unit and has apparently green-lighted International Criminal Court proceedings against Israeli officials.
Soon, Israel must begin a final assault on south Gaza, which will be a painful and costly undertaking certain to stoke more demonstrations and sanctions efforts against Israel. In the US, that will spur the ongoing shift of America's Democratic Party from resolute to qualified support for Israel as Democrats bid cater to the growing and increasingly influential American Muslim community.
“...They made a request knowing that it was completely unacceptable. They’re negotiating in bad faith. They made a request knowing that it was completely unacceptable. They’re negotiating in bad faith...”
They have no reason, whatsoever, to negotiate in good faith. Hamas may be losing the war on-the-ground, at home, but they are wiping the floor with Israel in every other arena around the world. They have won the battle of public and media opinion hands-down in this, and their rent-a-mobs throughout the entire western world have demonstrated (and are continuing to demonstrate), that they can shut down major transportation, trade, and academic infrastructure throughout the western world, pretty much at-will.
As long as their leadership is sitting fat and rich in places like Qatar and Dubai, and as long as their elite troops are allowed to operate at-will throughout the western world, Hamas has the far-stronger negotiating position in all of this, and they know it.
I’m actually surprised that they haven’t yet started destroying synagogues and Jewish cultural facilities left, right and centre. My guess is that’s probably the next stage of the battle... Worldwide Kristallnacht.