Israel Must Demand Hamas Give Up Power and The U.S. Should Back That Demand

Since the cessation of hostilities between Israel and Iran, Israel’s war with Hamas has taken center stage in the Middle East. While Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was in Washington this past week to meet with Donald Trump, “proximity” negotiations between Israel and Hamas were taking place in Qatar to come to a ceasefire.

According to the BBC, the talks have hit a sticking point over Israel’s security demands for buffer zones and evacuation from certain areas of Gaza. Hamas has threatened to end negotiations over Israeli demands. “Hamas requested and received a map outlining Israel's proposed withdrawal zones…... The map was said to indicate buffer zones that were up to 3km (1.8 miles) deep in certain areas and confirmed a continued Israeli presence in vast swathes of territory. They covered all of the southern city of Rafah, 85% of the village of Khuzaa east of Khan Younis, substantial parts of the northern towns of Beit Lahia and Beit Hanoun, and eastern neighbourhoods of Gaza City, such as Tuffah, Shejaiya and Zeitoun. (BBC, July 12, 2025)

Currently, Hamas still holds dozens of Israeli hostages and bodies of hostages taken October 7, 2023, and uses this as leverage over Israel. Israel operates throughout Gaza and has killed the top Hamas leadership. What remains the “elephant in the room” is that Israel cannot allow Hamas to remain in Gaza after the massacre on October 7, and Gaza will not be allowed to keep the means to commit another massacre.

The Oct 7 attack permanently changed Israel’s views of Gaza, across party lines, to agreement that Hamas must go and Gaza must be transformed. I served in Egypt and Israel in 1996-97 on MFO peacekeeping duties and can confirm this consensus about Hamas and Gaza is historic. 

Hamas and accompanying Gazans were utterly barbaric on Oct 7, and the sick terrorists filmed atrocities. They filmed the rape of women and engaged in the burning and decapitation of babies among the depraved acts. Hamas murdered 1,200 mostly civilian Israelis in so many unimaginable ways, and were recorded bragging to cheering parents in Gaza about the atrocities.

They then made a retrograde with kidnapped civilians to hide behind Palestinian civilians in Gaza. Hamas had dug hundreds of miles of tunnels underneath the civilian infrastructure, including hospitals and schools, of Gaza. Hamas put its weapon systems among civilians in Gaza and had built hundreds of miles of tunnels. In March 2024, a whopping 71% of Gazans supported the Hamas atrocities of October 7, though that number has decreased below half since that time, likely due to the consequences to Gaza. (PSR, June 12, 2024)

On October 7 an estimated 150,000 Iranian proxy Hezbollah fighters were located to the North of Israel with thousands of missiles they fired when Israel went into Gaza. Thankfully, Israel decimated Hezbollah’s leadership with air strikes and then with exploding pagers. Regardless, Israel must always keep forces facing the northern threat. Additionally, Palestinians of the West Bank engaged in multiple attacks against Israelis during Hamas operations, and Israel must continually dedicate forces in the West Bank. Iran sent not only proxies, but missile strikes and then impending nuclear missiles. Despite the destruction of much of Iran’s nuclear capability during the “twelve-day way”, that existential threat against Israel remains along with Houthi proxies firing missiles from Yemen.

It’s important to note that Israel’s national defense is reliant on a citizen-soldier military. The IDF has a small regular force but a huge reserve component. Every Israeli man and woman must serve as a reservist throughout their lives. The entire nation of Israel consists of only around seven million non-Palestinian Israelis and so just over the population of South Carolina.

The National Guard of South Carolina is around ten thousand, while Israel called up over 360,000 reservists for the invasion of Gaza. This is a huge proportion of the Israeli workforce, causing much of the economy to grind to a halt. Israel cannot keep massive permanent forces surrounding every square inch outside the current borders of Gaza.

The key challenge for Israel right now is really not wiping out Hamas, but the remaining hostages and bodies. Those hostages are the only real leverage for Hamas and since the destruction of Hamas leadership in place at the time of Oct 7, 2023, those now leading Hamas are new. The neophyte leadership likely knows that when the last hostage is in the hands of Israel Hamas fighters will either be killed or imprisoned. That’s if they haven’t left. In positive developments, groups of Gazans have been reported countering and protesting against Hamas. In particular, Yasser Abu Shabab started a group known as “Popular Forces” in 2024 in Rafah, protecting humanitarian shipments to Gazans against Hamas (Fox New, July 12, 2025)

It remains to be seen if this develops as a nationwide movement against Hamas.

Americans should back Israel with the demand Hamas leave power after releasing the hostages. Hamas members have proven themselves murderous terrorists who cannot remain in power for the sake of Israeli security. Gazans are slowly coming around to understand the evil Hamas perpetrated, not only on October 7, 2023, but since that time on them. We look to a righteous God to bring justice in this and keep our faith He will do so with Hamas and Gaza.

Col. Bill Connor——Bio and Archives – Col. Bill Connor is a retired U.S. Army Infantry officer, attorney, and founding partner of NATIONAL DEFENSE CONSULTANTS, LLC. While in the Army, Connor logged multiple deployments to the Middle East, and he has commanded both light Infantry and Ranger training companies. From 2007 through 2008 he was deployed to Afghanistan where he became the senior U.S. military adviser in Helmand Province. Since the start of the October 2023 war in Israel, he has provided analysis to NEWSMAX.