Israeli and Western leaders keep repeating the same mantra: Israel’s war in Gaza is against Hamas, and it will be won when Hamas is defeated. Just kill enough “terrorists” and take away their guns, and the war will be won.

That framing is dangerously wrong. Hamas is not an isolated band of terrorists with its own unique ideology, separate from the people it claims to represent. Hamas is the Palestinian people. It is an accurate reflection of Palestinian culture, politics and goals as they have been taught, embraced, and passed down for generations.

It is the armed expression of Palestinian society itself—a society steeped in Jew-hatred, committed to Israel’s destruction and willing to sacrifice its own children for that cause.

Until Israel understands this, it will keep playing whack-a-

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