Israel, Hamas cease-fire deal could enable rearming of Gaza terrorists

JERUSALEM—Scenes of armed and uniformed Hamas terrorists could be seen in Gaza on Sunday as the first three Israeli female hostages were released as the cease-fire deal came into effect. 

Israeli news agency TPS-IL reported that groups of armed men, suspected terrorists in the central Gaza area of Deir al-Balah, celebrated after the cease-fire and quoted them as chanting, "It is continuous by God’s permission to kill the last Zionist soldier in our holy country," as cars honked horns and music blared.

The agreement could enable Hamas to reorganize its terrorists in Gaza and repopulate the northern part of the Gaza Strip that borders Israel, according to some concerned Israeli military experts.

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"Despite significant military achievements against many of the Iranian terror proxies around it, Israel has been forced to agree to a very bad deal that leaves Hamas in power. As the leaders of Hamas have repeatedly stated, including after the declaration of the cease-fire, Hamas intends to continue on its path of Jihad against Israel until Israel is completely eliminated," former Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman, Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus, told Fox News Digital.

He continued, "Israel is held at gunpoint by the Hamas terror organization and has agreed to release almost 2,000 convicted Palestinian terrorists, to withdraw from the Gaza Strip and to temporarily cease-fire in order to repatriate 33 Israeli hostages."

Following the initial announcement of last week's deal, Khalil al-Hayya, a senior Hamas official, reportedly boasted that his movement plans to commit a second October 7 massacre of Israelis, according to a Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) translation of his remarks.

He reportedly bragged about the first slaughter of over 1,200 Israelis, including more than 40 Americans, on October 7, 2023, and declared plans to launch new mass murders. "October 7 Will Remain A Source Of Pride To Our People And Our Resistance, And Will Be Passed Down From Generation To Generation," declared al-Hayya.

He said the jihadi organization will expel Israel from Palestine and Jerusalem and that this will happen soon, adding, "We will never forget and never forgive," and vowing that Israel's crimes will be punished, "even if it takes time."

Conricus, a senior fellow for the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said that only "Due to overwhelming international pressure applied on Israel throughout the last 15 months, which has prevented Israel from exercising the needed amount of leverage and pressure on Hamas in Gaza, this extortion deal is regrettably probably the best way of saving Israeli hostages."

Retired IDF Brig. Gen. Amir Avivi (Res) told Fox News Digital that at this stage, the government is prioritizing bringing back the hostages. It is obviously urgent. Their situation is very bad." He added "The government intends to go back fighting after the first stage unless there will be another cease-fire to get all the hostages. But there is no intention to give up destroying Hamas and creating a new reality in Gaza." 

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Caroline Glick, a conservative Israeli commentator, who is well versed in the Jewish state’s campaign to defeat Hamas, said on her podcast, "What we’re having now is a situation where we are being forced permanently into this position where we are not allowed to win because that is what the cease-fire effectively does to Israel."

The cease-fire-for-hostages deal comes at a time when Israel has largely degraded Hamas’ military power. Hamas is in a feeble condition. Hezbollah, the main Hamas ally in the region, cut a cease-fire agreement with Israel and removed one of Iran-backed fronts against the Jewish state.

Iran’s regime has launched no new strikes against Israel since Jerusalem countered its October aerial attack.

The deal contains deep concessions for Israel. The Jewish state will release up to 2,000 Palestinian terrorists, including over a hundred serving life sentences.

The expectation is based on previous releases of Palestinian terrorists for Israeli hostages involved in the Palestinian murderers returning to fight Israel. 

TPS-IL reported on Monday that an estimated 20,000 terrorists from Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and other terror groups have been killed in the war. On Sunday, it was also reported that Izz al-Din Haddad, commander of Hamas’s Northern Brigade, who oversaw Sunday’s transfer of three Israeli hostages to the Red Cross, has been tapped as the Hamas leader to rebuild the terror organization.