The president must stop trying to bridge unbridgeable gaps and and force Israel or Hamas to submit to U.S. will.

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It’s time for President Biden to stop trying to bridge unbridgeable gaps and use his power to force one side or the other to submit to American will. That means either fully backing Israel’s military aim of wiping out Hamas, or else forthrightly demanding an end to the war that leaves Hamas in power. Biden has resisted taking either tack out of political calculation, but his anguished diplomatic straddling has reached the end of the line.

The first option would be the natural one. Biden could declare: My administration has spent months working with Israel to get to generous cease-fire offers. We have hoped for good faith on the part of Hamas’s leadership. That ends with Hamas’s latest refusal. Israel now has our full support for its military objective of destroying Hamas’s military capabilities, killing its leaders and disarming the entire Gaza Strip — as long as it takes. Sinwar, take note: You just passed up the best offer you’ll ever get.

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As Israel continues its military operations, there’s a chance Hamas would accept a hostage deal — not because it wants peace, but because its leaders are encircled and they need a pause in fighting to run for their lives. Biden can make that date come sooner if he stops dangling the possibility of increasingly favorable terms for the terrorist group.

The second option is to try to force a permanent cease-fire on Israel with Hamas still standing as Gaza’s governing force. Biden could declare: This war has gone on too long with too many innocents killed. Yes, Hamas has rejected my deal to pause the fighting, but that’s because it believes Israel will restart the war after the pause. So, I am committing to Hamas that I will not allow Israel to restart the war. If it does so, I will cut off its military resupply and end its diplomatic backing.

That’s the other way Hamas might agree to a hostage deal: If it was persuaded that a pause in fighting would lead to a permanent end to Israel’s offensive. That way, the group would have a chance to regenerate itself and lead the Palestinian cause.

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Hamas is already........

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