As the Israeli government and Hamas forces continue to attack each other, there appears to be a conclusion that the Israeli government has never understood: Israel's government will never succeed in destroying or subduing Hamas as long as Israel continues to support Israeli settlements in the West Bank. It is only deluding itself by thinking otherwise.
Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 makes it clear that no one, including Israel, has the legal right to place settlements in occupied territories such as the Palestinian West Bank. By authorizing and encouraging Israeli citizens to remove Palestinian residents from the West Bank, and by authorizing its own citizens to murder West Bank residents, the Israeli government is not only violating international law; it is also engaging in continuous acts of terrorism.
According to the United Nations High Commissioner of Human Rights, during the entire year of 2022, Israeli settlers displaced 1100 Palestinians in the West Bank and murdered 190 of them: "Armed and masked Israeli settlers are attacking Palestinians in their homes... terrorizing entire communities with complete impunity," said the High Commissioner, see https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2022/12/israel-un-experts-condemn-record-year-israeli-violence-occupied-west-bank-0
Since the Fourth Geneva Convention was adopted by the UN, the Israeli government has authorized its own citizens to displace and murder many thousands of West Bank Palestinians. The evidence is clear: As long as Israel continues to engage in terrorism against the West Bank residents, thousands of angry Palestinians will continue to rise up against Israel's terrorism by joining and embracing Hamas's counter-terrorism
If the Israelis truly believe that they can destroy Hamas's own counter-terrorist actions by engaging in physical force, then the Israelis are simply fooling themselves. There is only one way that Israel can subdue Hamas, and thus far Israel's government has been too delusional to figure it out. Hamas will only be subdued when Israel pulls its settlements out of the West Bank and follows a permanent course of non-invasion and non-settlement in the West Bank territory.
