Death Deters Those Who Want To Live

by David Samuel McCalmont

Terrorist leaders are often found ensconced in the highest echelons, jet-setting from one Mideast capital to another, trying to look and act important.

A week ago Wednesday, Iranian state media praised Hamas "political chief" Ismail Haniyeh as a key figure who pushed Israel to the "brink of extinction," celebrating the explicitly genocidal intent of Hamas leadership hours after an airstrike eliminated the terrorist in the early hours of the day.

Haniyeh was in Tehran for the inauguration of the new Iranian President, Masoud Pezeshkian, and was seen embracing the new president and later holding a personal meeting with "Supreme Leader" Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Hamas is a Sunni jihadist terror organization headquartered in Gaza that relies heavily on Iranian funding for its survival. Iranian leaders enthusiastically support Hamas's goal of destroying the State of Israel and eradicating Jews from the Middle East. The State Department recently estimated that Iran invests $100 million in Hamas per year.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps confirmed that the residence housing Haniyeh was hit by a "projectile" (it was later revealed that the device that exploded had been placed there months ago), killing the Hamas leader and most likely others as well. Tehran blames the attack on Zionists, but so far, Israel hasn't officially claimed responsibility.

Practically Haniyeh's entire extended family has been washed over the years in the blood of martyrdom. "Their pure blood is for the liberation of Jerusalem and Al Aqsa, and we will continue to march on our road, and will not hesitate and will not falter," Haniyeh said. "With their blood, we bring about hopes, a future and freedom for our people and our cause."

The news of Haniyeh's death came just hours after Israel confirmed that it had killed Hezbollah's second-in-command Fuad Shukr "Sayyid Musan" near Beirut, Lebanon.

Some Terrorists Love to Live It Up

The targeted killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh reminds me of this item I read recently about a huge hotel bill for Haniyeh and his entourage at the Mandarin Oriental in Doha, Qatar. Evidently, Hamas got hit with a $1 million bill for the 11-day stay, which included – needless to report – a very hefty room-service bill.

Not all terrorists are created equal.

While their foot soldiers were dying in Gaza in a blaze of martyrdom, and with their people living in misery, Haniyeh and his henchmen were debating between filet mignon or Dover sole.

The most important word in the Middle East is not power or honor or religion. Those are important, but the supreme word is "deterrence." Deterrence is how sophisticated people say "scared sh**less"!

If your neighbors are afraid of you, they'll behave. If they're not, you're in trouble. That's how Israel has survived for 75 years: until last October.

It's the rule of the jungle.

October 7 broke that rule. One of Israel's sworn enemies said to the all-powerful Israel: "We're not afraid of you. We're so not afraid of you that we are invading your country and slaughtering your people". In fancy language, Israel had apparently lost deterrence.

The war in Gaza is Israel's relentless attempt to regain that deterrence, to put the fear of God back into Hamas, to make a statement to everyone else in the neighborhood that no one should ever mess with Israel.

Luxury Loving Terrorists

The problem is that when you're dealing with people who worship death, deterrence can only go so far. It's harder to scare people who see martyrdom as some kind of sacred honor. That's why you see such chutzpah in Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas military leader who's been in the trenches of Gaza for more than nine months. The death of his people doesn't deter him. As Netanyahu said in his most recent speech on Capitol Hill, those deaths are his strategy.

The more of his people die, the harder the world comes down on Israel.

But if dying doesn't deter terrorists who worship death, it definitely deters those who love to live. And Israel knows where to find those lovers of death who really want to live… it up.

Multi-billionaire Ismail Haniyeh was one of those luxury-loving terrorists. Like Yasser Arafat in his heyday (who never slept two nights in the same place), Haniyeh had been traveling around in his private jet for years, usually from his home base in Qatar. According to the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, Qatar provides Hamas with $200 million per year. You can be sure a whole bunch of that cash stuck to Haniyeh's pocket, while Christian Dior and Ritz Carlton reveled in the drachma he dropped their way.

Had anybody in the global prestige media ever bothered to corner Haniyeh and ask him, "what have you done for the Palestinian people"?

I'm guessing they were too embarrassed to run a one-word story: "Nothing"!

Hunting Season in the Holy Land

Israel bagged a really big fish right after catching Hezbollah's number-two man in Beirut. Israel once again is getting serious about deterrence. These targeted strikes hearken back to Israel's mystique, to the Israel that kidnapped Adolf Eichmann in Argentina and rescued hostages in Entebbe.

Bad guys were not safe anywhere.

There's reason to be concerned, though, that these two assassinations may start a deadly retaliation game that could get out of hand. It also makes getting the Israeli hostages back alive near impossible.

There are a lot of moving parts. Things could explode anew at any time.

For now, let's just hope that those other big fish in the neighborhood – from Iran to Yemen to Lebanon – who love to live and often live it up, are scared sh**less and watching their backs.

SB Current is a reader-supported publication. If you enjoy receiving our mix of daily features please consider upgrading to a paid subscription.