Knockout blow unlikely, deal unlikely with Hamas

Washington Post:

Israeli military officials said their 19-day offensive in the Gaza Strip had weakened Hamas but that a knockout blow was unlikely. The conflict showed no signs of ending Wednesday as diplomats reported little progress in negotiating a truce.

In Cairo, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon met Wednesday with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in a bid to break the diplomatic impasse. Ban said he would keep pushing Israel and Hamas to observe a U.N. Security Council resolution calling for a cease-fire but was not optimistic.

"We shared our feelings and frustrations and pain over the ongoing violence in Gaza," Ban said of his meeting with Mubarak, whose government is trying to mediate a settlement between Israel and Hamas.

Meantime, three rockets were fired into northern Israel from Lebanon Wednesday. No injuries were reported but the fusillade added to jitters in an already tense region. It was the second rocket attack on northern Israel in a week, raising fears that Lebanese militants could try to widen the conflict.

No groups asserted responsibility for the strikes. The Israeli military said it returned fire and that it viewed "the Lebanese government and military as responsible to prevent such attacks."

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Some Hamas leaders have said they are willing to cut a deal, but others have pledged to continue fighting.

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That last quoted sentence reveals why any deal struck will be of no value to Israel. Those willing to cut the deal will do noting to stop those not willing to cut the deal. At best they hope to buy a separate peace for themselves while the others continue the war against Israel, meaning no one will stop the rocket attacks.

The fact is the members of Hamas have nothing of value to offer Israel and the peace mongers don't have an answer either. They may give lip service to stopping the attacks on Israel, but they are not willing to do anything to effect a halt to the rocket attacks. Their attitude seems to be that Israel should endure the attacks and let Hamas rebuild its arsenal while at the same time saying they oppose Hamas doing that.