The cease-fire agreement between Israel and the terrorists of Hamas is failing rapidly because Hamas is breaking it to pieces. This was clearly foreseeable but the responsibility is only on Hamas.
Islamic ideology compels both world domination and, for non-believers, payment of the “jizya” tax on able-bodied men.
The deal called for Hamas to release all hostages, both living and dead, to disarm and to give up any role in the future government of the Gaza Strip. So far, Hamas has only complied with the requirement to release living hostages.
There were high hopes of peace when Hamas returned 20 hostages alive. They and their families rejoiced but then Hamas claimed it couldn’t return all of the dead hostages — those 28 people who were murdered while in Hamas’s custody — because it couldn’t find them all. It has released about eight bodies, which leaves 20 unaccounted for. Israel has said it would limit aid flowing into the Gaza Strip until those bodies are released.
Hamas is ignoring its obligations to disarm and forfeit its governance of Gaza. It has been executing its political opponents — some pro-Palestinian militias among them, and some civilians in Gaza — in groups of up to eight at a time. Needless to say, it is not disarming.
A few days ago, President Trump said, “If they don’t disarm, we will disarm them. And it’ll happen quickly and perhaps violently.” He has also threatened Hamas with “complete obliteration.”
Trump wrote on Truth Social that, “If Hamas continues to kill people in Gaza, which was not the deal, we will have no choice but to go in and kill them.” But how can this be done?
About 200 U.S. troops have arrived in or near Gaza. They are vastly too few in number to disarm Hamas. Gaza is about 141 square miles with a population of about two million. The District of Columbia is 64 square miles, a little more than one-third the size of Gaza, and under Gaza are thousands of miles of tunnels that Hamas has dug. How many of these tunnels Hamas is still operating from is unknown.
For the U.S. to disarm Hamas would require combat street-by-street, house by house, and hand-to-hand. That would require tens of thousands of U.S. and Israeli troops and months — if not years — of close combat in which the lives of U.S. troops would be lost.
I have written before that President Trump doesn’t usually carry out his threats if nations and terrorists don’t comply with his wishes. He cannot fail to do so in the case of Hamas because Hamas is compelled by the Islamic ideology that will continue to motivate its followers if he doesn’t.
Unless Mr. Trump carries out his threats against Hamas, it will live again and continue to dominate Gaza and threaten Israel. Both Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu know this. So how can they combine to win this horrific war?
The only answer is found in the Chairman’s Guidance issued in 2006 by then-chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Peter Pace. As he wrote then and I have written many times since, the war against Islamic terrorism can only be won by attacking its ideology.
Former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair understood this as did the late Donald Rumsfeld. Neither George W. Bush nor Dick Cheney did. Does Mr. Trump?
Islamic ideology compels both world domination and, for non-believers, payment of the “jizya” tax on able-bodied men. Those who pay the tax are supposedly protected from a forced belief in Islam. Hamas, like the rest of the Islamic world, won’t rest until they dominate Israel and the world.
To fight this ideology, Mr. Trump needs to lead the fight against the ideology. He may be incapable of tackling such an enormous task but he nevertheless must do so.
To do that, Mr. Trump should say that Islamic domination of the world is not inevitable. It has failed to dominate Israel, though the Jewish state is its worst enemy. It cannot be allowed to dominate the United States, our NATO allies, or anyone else.
Moreover, Islam cannot be forced on people. Those who don’t believe in Islam have the right to believe in any religion — Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, and any other religion they choose. Mr. Trump should take a lesson from MEMRI, my friends at the Middle East Media Research Institute, who document radical Islamic preaching here in the U.S. and abroad. MEMRI shows how the Islamic ideology is being spread around the world.
As to Hamas and Mr. Trump’s threats against them, there is no compromise, no peace deal they will comply with. Hamas cannot be defeated unless the Islamic ideology it fights for is defeated. Without that, there can be no peace with Iran and its terrorist proxies.
READ MORE from Jed Babbin:
![Trump Confirms Venezuela's Maduro Bent the Knee, Drops an F Bomb in the Oval Office [WATCH]](https://www.right2024.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Trump-Confirms-Venezuelas-Maduro-Bent-the-Knee-Drops-an-F-350x250.jpg)
