WarSclerotic

The true colors of Hamas, the Islamist terrorist ‎group that rules the Gaza Strip, must be exposed if ‎any progress is to be made in the efforts to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, top U.S. officials told CNN Sunday.‎

In a joint opinion peace penned by U.S. Ambassador ‎to the U.N. Nikki Haley, senior White House adviser ‎Jared Kushner, U.S. Ambassador to Israel David ‎Friedman and U.S. Special Representative for ‎International Negotiations Jason Greenblatt, the ‎four lambasted the U.N. for its anti-Israel bias ‎and urged the international community to acknowledge ‎that it is Hamas’ policies that jeopardize Gaza’s future more ‎than anything else.‎

The international community must hold Hamas ‎accountable for its actions, the piece asserted, ‎noting that “unfortunately, Hamas’ malign activity ‎is pushing Israel to engage in increasingly ‎significant acts of self-defense. As in the case of ‎past conflicts, Hamas starts a clash, loses the ‎battle and its people suffer. That is the reality ‎that needs to change.‎”

‎”That foundation of reality underscores our ‎administration’s approach to the Israeli-Palestinian ‎conflict,” they explained. ‎”Recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital was a ‎reflection of reality. Any realistic person knows ‎that Jerusalem will remain the capital of Israel ‎under any peace agreement. But as President Donald ‎Trump said when he made that decision, he made no ‎judgment about the final borders of Jerusalem; the ‎President directly called on all parties to maintain ‎the status quo at Jerusalem’s holy sites. Those ‎questions are for the parties to decide.”‎

‎”Peace can only succeed ‎if it is based on ‎‎realities,” the piece said with respect to the ‎‎Israeli-Palestinian peace plan the White House is ‎‎devising, adding that ‎”no one will be fully pleased ‎‎‎with our proposal, but ‎that’s the way it must be if ‎‎‎real peace is to be ‎achieved.”‎

They further contended that “the peace proposal we ‎‎will make will be ‎realistic, recognizing the ‎‎legitimate needs of both ‎Israel and the Palestinians ‎‎as well as the interests ‎of the broader region.”