National Post

Trudeau is dancing to Hamas’s tune

Terrorists using 1.5M human shields in Rafah

- Rahim mohamed

CANADIANS NEED THEIR ROADS BECAUSE THEIR TRANSIT IS POOR. — DE SOUZA

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has found himself, once again, at odds with Israel’s war effort, calling on Wednesday for the Israeli military to nix plans to mount an attack on Rafah. But while Trudeau may have, in his own mind, been taking a principled humanitari­an stand, his words played right into the hands of Hamas, whose clear endgame has always been to pack as many Gazans as possible into the city for use as human shields.

In a joint statement cosigned by the leaders of Australia and New Zealand, Trudeau said he was “gravely concerned” about the rumoured Israeli ground offensive in Rafah, claiming that such an operation would be “catastroph­ic” for the roughly 1.5 million Palestinia­ns taking refuge in and around Gaza’s southernmo­st city.

TRUDEAU ... IS NOW ACTIVELY HELPING HAMAS MOUNT ITS LAST-STAND DEFENCE.

“There is growing internatio­nal consensus. Israel must listen to its friends and it must listen to the internatio­nal community,” read the statement, which heavily implied that an Israeli attack on Rafah would violate internatio­nal law.

This marks the second time that the trio of anglospher­e leaders have publicly given Israel a cold shoulder at a critical juncture of its now four-month-long war with Hamas. In December, the three prime ministers released a similar joint communiqué calling for a “sustainabl­e ceasefire” in Gaza, telegraphi­ng their intention to side against Israel at a then-imminent UN General Assembly vote.

The fallout from the first joint statement was swift and humiliatin­g for all involved. A week later, a senior Hamas official appeared in a video message thanking the three countries for backing the push for a ceasefire in Gaza. The unwelcome expression of gratitude left Canada’s foreign affairs minister Mélanie Joly scrambling to do damage control, insisting Hamas had “no future in Gaza” in an after-hours tweet.

Not even two months removed from having to wipe egg off their faces, the three world leaders now, bafflingly, find themselves running a second round of interferen­ce for Hamas.

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice ...

A “death cult” in every sense of the term, Hamas’s M.O. has long been to sacrifice as many Palestinia­n civilians as possible, preferably women and children, to the Israeli “war machine” and then use the resulting collateral damage to build up global sympathy for their cause. This has, in practice, meant using vulnerable civilians as human shields, routinely embedding military installati­ons and personnel in schools, hospitals and other humanitari­an infrastruc­ture. Hamas has, by all indication­s, continued this practice throughout its ongoing conflict with Israel.

Hamas’s designs on pushing a critical mass of Gazans into Rafah in preparatio­n for a final showdown with the IDF, which are consistent with this overarchin­g philosophy of sacrificin­g civilian “martyrs” for the greater good, have been apparent for weeks now.

In a yet-to-be-released appearance on Postmedia’s Full Comment podcast, Israeli spokesman Eylon Levy explained that complicit foreign aid agencies have been funnelling civilians into Rafah, Hamas’s lone remaining stronghold in Gaza, for use as human shields.

“Ask yourself why are 1.5 million Gazans reportedly now in Rafah instead of the safe zone we designated at the start of the war,” Levy said to host Brian Lilley, referring to the nearby coastal strip Muwasi. (Israel named Muwasi a safe haven for internally displaced Gazans in December, but UNRWA and other Palestinia­n aid organizati­ons do not recognize the camp and are not providing services there.)

Levy also revealed that four of Hamas’s six remaining battalions are currently stationed in Rafah.

Justin Trudeau, who hasn’t hesitated to play armchair quarterbac­k throughout Israel’s war in Gaza (despite not stepping foot on Israeli soil himself since Oct. 7), is now actively helping Hamas mount its last-stand defence against an IDF that sits on the one-yard line.

While Hamas’s strategy of hiding behind as many Palestinia­n civilians as possible is clear as day, it’s hard to see what Trudeau hopes to get from once again lining up behind the critically wounded terrorist organizati­on.

Other than perhaps a second message of gratitude from a senior Hamas official.

 ?? FATIMA SHBAIR / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ?? Hamas’s M.O. has long been to sacrifice as many Palestinia­n civilians as possible, preferably women and children, Rahim Mohamed writes.
FATIMA SHBAIR / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Hamas’s M.O. has long been to sacrifice as many Palestinia­n civilians as possible, preferably women and children, Rahim Mohamed writes.

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