WhatsappThe central question surrounding Gaza is no longer whether Hamas will promise to disarm. It is whether anyone should believe those promises while Hamas continues to attack Israeli forces.
Overnight, that contradiction was once again exposed on the ground.
According to the IDF, a Hamas explosive device detonated on the Israeli-controlled side of the Yellow Line in northern Gaza, while terrorists simultaneously opened fire in the area. The attack reportedly occurred near a position associated with an anti-Hamas militia operating inside Gaza. No Israeli soldiers were wounded, and the IDF responded immediately with strikes against targets in the area. The military explicitly described the attack as a Hamas violation of the ceasefire.
The timing could hardly be more significant.
Jared Kushner has just completed another intensive round of diplomacy, including a rare meeting with Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya in Egypt followed by hours of discussions with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem. The talks ended without a breakthrough, with the fundamental dispute remaining unchanged: Israel insists Hamas must disarm before the IDF withdraws, while Hamas continues demanding Israeli withdrawal as part of the process.
According to reports following Kushner’s talks, Hamas representatives told him they were prepared to move toward demilitarization. Kushner reportedly pressed them to take concrete steps demonstrating that commitment, while the American position remains that Gaza’s reconstruction cannot proceed without demilitarization.
That makes the overnight attack especially important.
Israel is being asked to make decisions based upon Hamas promises while Israeli soldiers are confronting Hamas explosives and gunfire on territory already under IDF control.
This is precisely why Netanyahu’s insistence on sequencing matters.
Disarmament cannot be the result of Israeli withdrawal. It must be the prerequisite for it.
A terrorist organization does not become demilitarized because its political representatives tell American negotiators what they want to hear. Demilitarization means surrendering weapons, dismantling military infrastructure, destroying tunnels, eliminating rocket-production capabilities and ending armed operations.
Until that happens, the Yellow Line remains more than a ceasefire boundary.
It remains Israel’s security line—and Hamas itself continues demonstrating why Israel cannot afford to abandon it.
