{"id":12039,"date":"2026-07-21T00:17:58","date_gmt":"2026-07-20T19:17:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=12039"},"modified":"2026-07-21T00:17:58","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T19:17:58","slug":"lindsey-graham-was-right-about-hamas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=12039","title":{"rendered":"Lindsey Graham was right about Hamas"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/twt-thumbs.washtimes.com\/media\/image\/2026\/07\/20\/Sternthal_AH_s808x929.jpg?9766e8e2509fb266c0c6333440ec2a2699a704dd\" \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"article-category\"><strong>OPINION:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>There is \u201cno pathway forward to peace as long as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtontimes.com\/topics\/hamas\/\">Hamas<\/a> has their arms and they intend to stay in power,\u201d Sen. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtontimes.com\/topics\/lindsey-graham\/\">Lindsey Graham<\/a> said in December regarding the troubled implementation of the U.S.-brokered Israel-Hamas peace plan.<\/p>\n<p>One day after the senator\u2019s sudden death on July 11, his point that progress in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtontimes.com\/topics\/gaza-strip\/\">Gaza Strip<\/a> cannot coexist with an armed <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtontimes.com\/topics\/hamas\/\">Hamas<\/a> was so painfully obvious that even senior United Nations officials could no longer ignore it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI strongly condemn the recent obstruction of humanitarian operations in Gaza by the de facto authorities, which endangered humanitarian personnel, intimidated workers delivering lifesaving food assistance and disrupted lifesaving humanitarian operations,\u201d Ramiz Alakbarov, U.N. deputy special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, blasted <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtontimes.com\/topics\/hamas\/\">Hamas<\/a> in a July 12 statement that was largely ignored by the international press.<\/p>\n<p>The next day, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtontimes.com\/topics\/european-union\/\">European Union<\/a> announced contributions of $1 billion to \u201cearly recovery\u201d in the coastal territory, including major projects tackling waste and water management. \u201cBut to do that, we need disarmament of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtontimes.com\/topics\/hamas\/\">Hamas<\/a>,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtontimes.com\/topics\/european-union\/\">European Union<\/a> Commissioner for the Mediterranean Dubravka Suica remarked.<\/p>\n<p>Ms. Suica\u2019s statement generated as much media interest as Mr. Alakbarov\u2019s; that is to say, hardly any.<\/p>\n<p>Although most media outlets ignored the array of international sources citing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtontimes.com\/topics\/hamas\/\">Hamas<\/a>\u2019 refusal to disarm as the No. 1 obstacle to progress in the war-torn territory, Reuters had a different approach.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtontimes.com\/topics\/hamas\/\">Hamas<\/a> has accused Israel of violating the ceasefire,\u201d the news agency selectively reported in a July 7 article about the latest violence in the territory. \u201cNikolay Mladenov, U.S. President Donald Trump\u2019s appointed Board of Peace envoy to Gaza, has said both sides have violated the agreement.\u201d<\/p>\n<aside>\n<\/aside>\n<p>Still, Mr. Mladenov did not equally charge \u201cboth sides\u201d with violations. In his May 13 press conference, he spent about 30 minutes clearly articulating that the 20-point plan for Gaza\u2019s future relies on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtontimes.com\/topics\/hamas\/\">Hamas<\/a>\u2019 disarmament.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Mladenov repeatedly stressed that the goal is to engineer a new, hopeful future. He called <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtontimes.com\/topics\/hamas\/\">Hamas<\/a>\u2019 disarmament \u201cthe basis for this whole framework.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOne authority, one law, one weapon,\u201d he said. This is a Palestinian principle. It is, in fact, a universal principle of good governance. No recovery process anywhere in the world has ever succeeded while parallel armed structures continue to operate outside a legitimate transitional authority. None.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He continued: \u201cYou cannot build a future with armed groups running the streets, hiding in tunnels, and stockpiling weapons. You cannot deliver reconstruction with militias on every corner.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That is precisely the hard reality that the United Nations\u2019 Mr. Alakbarov condemned. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtontimes.com\/topics\/hamas\/\">Hamas<\/a> \u201cforcibly entered the Abu Rashid food distribution point in Jabalia,\u201d along with a World Food Program warehouse, he said, where the terrorists \u201creportedly assaulted two truck drivers who were delivering humanitarian supplies.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese incidents are not isolated,\u201d he acknowledged.<\/p>\n<p>Unlike Reuters, The Associated Press reported with rare clarity that although Mr. Mladenov noted violations on both sides, he also said the \u201cceasefire hinges on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtontimes.com\/topics\/hamas\/\">Hamas<\/a>\u2019 disarmament,\u201d as the headline succinctly stated.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Mladenov \u201crepeatedly cited the disarmament issue as a central sticking point, saying <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtontimes.com\/topics\/hamas\/\">Hamas<\/a>\u2019 obligation to give up its arsenal is \u2018not negotiable\u2019 and that progress on all other issues \u2014 including reconstruction, Israeli troop withdrawals and the establishment of a new Palestinian government \u2014 was being held up,\u201d AP reported.<\/p>\n<p>Thus, Reuters lifted a small, albeit important, side note from Mr. Mladenov\u2019s remarks and inflated it, falsely casting it as his main message. Meanwhile, it ignored his primary argument.<\/p>\n<p>Reuters\u2019 curated five-minute video excerpt of Mr. Mladenov\u2019s press conference highlights his statement about unspecified daily violations, including deadly incidents in which Palestinian civilians were killed. The spliced clip ignores the crux of the half-hour presentation \u2014 Mr. Mladenov\u2019s argument that all steps forward depend first and foremost on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtontimes.com\/topics\/hamas\/\">Hamas<\/a> disarming in accordance with the ceasefire.<\/p>\n<p>Despite the messenger\u2019s untimely demise and media\u2019s best efforts to deflect, Mr. Graham\u2019s message about the fundamental need to disarm <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtontimes.com\/topics\/hamas\/\">Hamas<\/a> is impossible to bury. Even all the vast rubble of the devastated <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtontimes.com\/topics\/gaza-strip\/\">Gaza Strip<\/a> cannot hide this immutable obstacle to peace.<\/p>\n<p>                        <a name=\"pagebreak\"\/><\/p>\n<p><em>\u2022 Tamar Sternthal is director of media research and analysis for the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis and director of the organization\u2019s Israel office.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>OPINION: There is \u201cno pathway forward to peace as long as Hamas has their arms and they intend to stay in power,\u201d Sen. Lindsey Graham said in December regarding the troubled implementation of the U.S.-brokered Israel-Hamas peace plan. One day after the senator\u2019s sudden death on July 11, his point that progress in the Gaza&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12040,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/twt-thumbs.washtimes.com\/media\/image\/2026\/07\/20\/Sternthal_AH_c0-451-1537-1347_s1200x700.jpg?04c27f2a4a4d0d938e2fec9badae907e6203d4de","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12039","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-hub"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12039","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12039"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12039\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/12040"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12039"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12039"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12039"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}