Is Hamas about to be defeated in Gaza?

It's hopefully coming to a conclusion: Israel and Hamas. Israel's Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz said on Sunday that Israel was "closer than ever" to toppling Hamas in Gaza "if there is no other choice."

Steinitz made the statement after two days of intense cross-border violence between Hamas and Israel last week. He also sits on Israel's security cabinet so he may know something more than the average person.

He told the local media that Israel has not signed a ceasefire agreement with Hamas after these latest escalations, contrary to reports coming from officials in Gaza. He said that overthrowing Hamas was "definitely an option" and added that Israel was not interested in escalating this into a full-scale war.

The violence grew worse beginning in March when Palestinian protests in Gaza were held near the border with Israel. But in recent weeks, there have been at least three major violent conflicts, the most recent on Thursday when Hamas fired about 180 rocket and mortar rounds across the border the previous night.

Three Palestinians were killed in Israeli retaliatory strikes, including a mother and her 18-month-old child, according to Hamas, and seven Israelis were wounded in the rocket fire. It was discovered later that the photo of the child who was "killed" came from an Instagram photo of an American child very much alive, making one question the validity of anything Hamas says.

The recent violence is the heaviest since the 2014 Operation Protective Edge.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday demanded a "total" ceasefire from Hamas.

"We are in the midst of a campaign against terror in Gaza," Netanyahu said in his opening statement of a Cabinet meeting. "It will not end with one blow."

"Our demand is clear: a total ceasefire. We shall not be satisfied with less than that," he said.

Israeli hardliners in the Cabinet have called upon the prime minister to act more strongly against the latest Hamas aggressions.

"You guys go; I'll wait here"

The latest violence has the UN and Egypt increasing efforts to get a truce deal between Israel and Hamas, but they're dealing with an Islamic religious war that has the blessings of the Koran's anti-Semitic commandments.

About 170 Palestinian "protesters" have been killed by Israeli military fire, most of whom were members of Hamas and others who may have been Hamasshole hopefuls. One Israeli soldier was killed by a sniper since the border fighting began in March.

The Hamas terror group has demanded Israel and Egypt lift an 11-year blockade on Gaza in order to allow the import of more weapons and supplies to reach them.

Israel has been demanding that Hamas and their wannabe followers quit launching incendiary projectiles across the border which have been burning large swathes of Israeli territory.

On Sunday, Israeli daily Haaretz, a left-leaning Hebrew/English newspaper with a circulation of about 72,000, reported that officials in Jerusalem [Israel's capital] were forming a plan to assassinate several senior Hamas leaders. However, it would first wait to determine the outcome of upcoming negotiations brokered by Egypt and the [anti-Zionist] UN before going ahead with the assassinations.

"Thank you, Haaretz, for the warning," Hamas whispered.


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