Fantasies abound about “the day after” Israel ends its war against Hamas, yet one thing’s certain: The Jewish state can no longer live with terrorists on its border — including Hezbollah in the supposed “exclusion zone” in southernmost Lebanon.
And you can be sure it won’t: If Israelis learned anything on Oct. 7, it’s that.
That’s why all the talk of letting the Palestinian Authority run Gaza is delusional.
And why the world, or Israel on its own, ultimately will have to evict Iran’s Hezbollah terrorists and their 150,000 rockets from Lebanon south of the Litani River, as UN Resolution 1701 was supposed to do after 2006. (It failed miserably.)
As Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant noted Monday, more than 80,000 Israeli residents near the Lebanese border were “displaced” after Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre, when Hezbollah terrorists began launching rockets, missiles and drones at citizens in northern Israel.
“We are determined to create a new reality, restoring security in the area based on UN Resolution 1701,” vowed Gallant.
Hezbollah must be pushed back, so “residents of the north” can return to their homes.
And if that can’t happen “diplomatically,” he warned, Israel “will not hesitate to act.”
That’s beyond obvious.
Consider: If Hamas terrorists were able to cross into Israel and slaughter 1,200 people, imagine what Hezbollah’s butchers — who have far greater resources — could do.
Meanwhile, Hezbollah’s capo dei capi, Hassan Nasrallah, insists “the only solution is to destroy [Israel] without allowing it to surrender,” which is also the goal of his Iranian paymasters.
Under 1701, Hezbollah was to disarm and relocate north of the Litani.
Instead, it grew, built tunnels and other facilities, amassed rockets — and became the most potent political force in Lebanon.
As for Gaza, the Israel Defense Forces have made a good start at destroying Hamas.
Yet after it’s done, Israelis will still face threats from potential resurgent terror cells in Gaza and the West Bank.
The Palestinian Authority surely can’t be trusted to prevent that.
For starters, it’s also dedicated to Israel’s destruction: It still pays terrorists (if they survive) and their families (if they don’t) for their heinous deeds.
And most West Bank Palestinians support Hamas (and its Oct. 7 savagery).
It’s ludicrous to think the authority can run a peaceful Gaza.
Heck, even Team Biden says the Palestinian Authority must be “revamped” — but offers no magic formula for fixing it.
Israelis would love nothing more than the peaceful, post-war “two-state solution” President Biden dreams of.
But they’re united against a bogus solution that leaves major terrorists based on their borders.
If the prez wants to be helpful — and realistic — he can start looking for solutions that erase those threats, beginning with lining up Arab states willing and able to govern Gaza and keep terrorists out.
Because there’s simply no way Israel can accept anything else from now on.