No Surprise

Hamas has stated that it would not disarm. Like this is a surprise to anyone?

The political leader of the Palestinian terror group Hamas on Wednesday said it would not renew a truce with Israel when it expires at the end of the year and accused the Jewish state of violating the agreement that reduced violence.

"All circumstances on the ground, the regional political atmosphere and the Palestinian situation are not encouraging to renew the truce," Khaled Mashaal told The Associated Press in a telephone interview in Damascus. "Hamas is not going to renew the truce because Israel did not abide by the conditions of the truce."

What did Israel do that it didn't abide by the conditions of the truce as understood by Hamas? Simple. Israel didn't cease to exist. It didn't roll over and die. It didn't give up its right to exist and no longer exercise dominion over Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and all points in between. Oh, and Israel continued to go after terrorists who planned attacks against Israel and conducted reprisals after Hamas terrorists successfully managed to attack Israel.

Hamas has too much at stake being the guys with the itchy trigger fingers. Their legitimacy before the eyes of their fellow Palestinians comes from their attacks against Israel and attempting to provide some kind of services for the Palestinians that the Palestinian Authority (PLO) can't.

They can't give up the guns for butter because then they would be virtually indistinguisable from the PLO. I say virtually because Hamas is far more religiously oriented than the PLO, which is a nationalist movement. Hamas has jihad as its goal, and its first step is eliminating Israel.