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I daily carry a Star of David metal keychain on my person made from a Qassam rocket. That rocket was once fired into Israel by Hamas. A piece of metal from a Qassam rocket artistically transformed into a Star of David keychain. No nation knows how to make lemonade out of lemons better than Israel!
Hamas has been in the business of making and firing Qassam rockets into Israel for a quarter of a century. These deadly one-stage rockets are manufactured in underground factories, and in makeshift shops and garages. The Qassams are not particularly accurate but that doesn’t seem to matter to Hamas because they aim them at population centers.
I am not a rocket scientist. But I do believe there is much to be learned from the general study of rocketry when it comes to better understanding President Trump’s peace plan for Gaza.
So let’s start with the launch of a rocket, any rocket. So far we have only been discussing the Qassam; a one-stage rocket powered by a solid-fuel engine. But what about multiphase rockets? These rockets start with a phase 1 liftoff courtesy of a rocket booster. The rocket booster provides the very important initial thrust, but once depleted of fuel, it is discarded. When phase 1 is completed then it is on to phase 2. Regardless of the number of phases in a multiphase rocket, each phase in the process needs to be completed before the subsequent phase can begin or it could prove disastrous.
Speaking of disastrous, remember the Space Shuttle Challenger? Back in January 1986, the Challenger blew up 73 seconds into liftoff due to a faulty rubber O-ring seal in its right side rocket booster. All seven crew members perished that day, but more on that later.
Now let’s consider some of President Trump’s (phase 1) peace plan for Gaza — the what’s not working parts.
For one thing, Hamas has yet to hand over the body of Ran Gvili. For another, Hamas is not honoring the ceasefire. Right now there are dozens of trapped terrorists in tunnels on the agreed to IDF side of the “yellow line.” Down in number from perhaps as many as 200, one can only imagine the horror these Hamas fighters might have inflicted, post ceasefire, had they not been discovered before they could strike.
Now let’s consider the most important part of the upcoming phase 2 of the Gaza peace plan: Hamas to disarm. Unfortunately, Hamas has repeatedly stated that isn’t going to happen.
Seems pretty clear to me that phase 1 of the peace plan has yet to be completed and the most important part of phase 2, Hamas giving up their weapons, isn’t going to happen anytime soon either. Despite the obvious bad news, there has been recent talk from President Trump that we will soon be entering phase 2 of the Gaza peace plan anyway.
This is such a bad idea. Just like a rocket launch, the Gaza peace plan was designed to finish phase 1 before going on to the next phase. In the world of rocketry images, Hamas is the defective O-ring seal on the Space Shuttle Challenger. They need to be dealt with first and foremost.
So it really does not take a rocket scientist to figure it out. This peace plan will never fly. Let’s hope Israel doesn’t have to pay the price for the failure. I don’t need another keychain.
Harold Witkov previously worked in textbook publishing and sales for more than thirty years. He began freelance writing in 1997, specializing in inspirational and humorous first-person narratives. He also writes political commentary for RenewAmerica, American Thinker, and others.
