The pro-Palestinian movement has been put in a rather tricky situation. Hamas, the terrorist group many of the anti-Israel crowd is supporting, recently refused to agree to a ceasefire proposed by Israel so they can engage in prisoner/hostage exchanges.

Yet, those on the anti-Israel side of the argument have been calling for Israel to stop its offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip ever since it began retaliating for the October 7 surprise attack in which the terrorist organization murdered over 1,000 Israelis. Now, the side they support has outright balked at the idea of a “ceasefire.”

A senior Egyptian official said Israel has proposed a two-month cease-fire in which the hostages would be freed in exchange for the release of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel and top Hamas leaders in Gaza would be allowed to relocate to other countries.

The official, who was not authorized to brief media and spoke on condition of anonymity, said Hamas rejected the proposal and insists no more hostages will be released until Israel ends its offensive and withdraws from Gaza. Israel’s government declined to comment on the talks.

Egypt and Qatar — which have brokered past agreements between Israel and Hamas — were developing a multistage proposal to try to bridge the gaps, the official said.

This raises an obvious question: If the pro-Palestinian side actually wants peace, why are they not criticizing Hamas for refusing a ceasefire agreement?

The answer is because it was never about a ceasefire for these people. Their aim is not to foster a peaceful solution to the Israel/Palestinian conflict – it is to eliminate Israel as a Jewish state. This is why so many of the pro-Hamas protests we have seen over the past few months have explicitly called for genocide against the Jewish people.

Indeed, many of those protesting in the streets and on university campuses are younger people who have bought into the anti-Israel propaganda that pervades these institutions. A recent Harvard/Harris poll found that a frightening percentage of young people side more with Hamas than with Israel.

Researchers found that about 46 percent of adults between the ages of 18 and 24 believe Hamas’ October 7 attack was justified. It also found that a significant percentage (43 percent) sympathize more with Hamas than Israel. Even further, the study revealed that 57 percent of respondents in this age group believe that Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinians, showing that dictionaries are needed now more than ever.

Lastly, about 37 percent of voters aged between 18 and 34 wish to see Hamas continuing to rule over the Gaza Strip after the war concludes. Given the rampant human rights abuses Hamas has inflicted on the Palestinian people, it is safe to assume that these people are either ignorant or care more about destroying Israel than protecting Palestinian civilians.

The issue for these people isn’t peace, per se. They would be absolutely ecstatic to see Israel give up its war to eradicate Hamas while the terrorist group continues to carry out terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians. If they actually cared about peace and safeguarding noncombatants, they would be calling for a ceasefire all around and pushing for a fair solution to the conflict.

Unfortunately, the civilians living in Gaza are nothing more than a political weapon to use against Israel to these people. In this way, they are not too different from the terrorists they support.