The cowardly 7-star hotel general – Khaled Mashaal

Khaled Mashaal, Hamas’ most senior official – and the brains behind the Hamas/Israel war – is barking out his commands to Hezbollah fighters, as to how he thinks the war should be escalated by them. There’s only one problem. He’s not giving his orders from the front lines of the Gaza Strip or the southernmost tip of Lebanon. Instead, his demands are coming from his plush, comfy seven-star hotel in the safe haven of Qatar, the place to where he moved in 2012.  

Far from the dangers of war, he is, like so many other Hamas leaders are, safely hiding out in luxurious hotels, along with their families, while stockpiling massive amounts of money for their own personal use. And while many have turned a blind eye to the obvious corrupt and cowardly actions of these rulers, the glaring hypocrisy is finally being called out.  

At the same time that politicians and world leaders are looking to Qatar to help free the more than 230 hostages being held by Hamas, at least one person is expressing his grave doubts about why it’s a mistake to enlist their help or rely upon them.  

Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett rightly stated, “The Israeli government is making a serious moral and practical error. Qatar is not an essential partner for humanitarian and diplomatic operations. Qatar is an enemy itself. It finances Hamas. Israel’s stated objective is to destroy Hamas. Qatar’s objective is exactly the opposite: to save Hamas.”

But it’s not just Israeli voices that are now willing to expose the truth of who these cowardly would-be generals are, who have no skin in the game. It is now their own Arab people, and while it took some time for them to finally speak out, they have woken up to the fact that their leaders do not inspire trust, honesty or their loyalty.

“Journalists and politicians, close to Hezbollah, have spoken out strongly against Mashaal after he called for the opening of a front in Lebanon and support for Gaza, saying they are not ready to accept such demands. If he has 30 billion dollars for the war, then let him give it.” (MSN Hebrew article: The One Sitting in a 7-Star Hotel Wants us to Join the War: Hezbollah Supporters Against Khaled Mashaal)

Said to be furious with the senior Hamas leader, high-ranking officials in Lebanon, which include politicians and media operatives, supportive of Hezbollah, are not siding with Mashaal who has “called for opening a front on the northern border with full force, stating that this is the only way to make history.”

After all, it’s so easy for Mashaal to call for a major expansion, which will, likely, result in a bloody battle and devastating destruction to Lebanon, while he sips a margarita in his hot tub – something which wasn’t lost on the very people to whom he was communicating. Their harsh response actually said it all.  “Mashaal, a man who sits in a 7-star hotel is not ashamed to call on Lebanon to start shelling Israel.”

These same sentiments were also expressed by Lebanese journalist, Faisal Abdel Satter who stated, “Someone is sitting in a hotel in a Gulf state and dares to say to Hezbollah, ‘Thank you, but it is not enough.’” 

What is clear here is that the Hamas leader is deluded into believing that he can dictate to Hezbollah leaders to risk all, go for broke and be prepared to see their home country of Lebanon blown up while he lives the life of a pampered, entitled terrorist whose life is too precious for the martyrdom that he has no qualms promoting to young Arab men whose lives have barely begun. But what’s it to him, the father of three daughters and four sons? At age 67, he has figured out how to play the game and survive the minefields of war – both literally and figuratively.   

While he demands sacrifices of others that he’s not willing to make himself, some are taking notice. Another journalist, Salem Zahran, also sympathetic to Hezbollah, offered to personally take Mashaal to the fight once he arrives at the Beirut airport. But no one is under any illusion that Mashaal will be boarding a plane anytime soon.

So how is his call to take up arms being received?

It was back in 2006 when Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said, “I would not have ordered the capture of two Israeli soldiers had I known it would lead to such a response.” Those words were an admission to the massive destruction, resulting from the 34-day IDF operations despite Nasrallah’s initial claim of having won a “divine victory.”

There is no doubt that the Lebanese Muslim cleric had suffered from a bad case of “buyer’s remorse” after having agreed to be Iran’s proxy fighter, because the ones who ended up paying the heavy price were those whose homeland was pummeled and would have to live with those consequences which took many years to rebuild.

Now, they are, once again, faced with the same calls from another “outsider” who is cheerleading for Hezbollah to “man up,” while he (Mashaal) makes a dinner decision of whether to order the filet mignon or the Dover sole with capers and lemon sauce. The absurdity of that picture has to speak volumes even to the most hard-core murdering terrorists.  

So, it’s time for Nasrallah to make the choice as to whether or not it’s worth yet another roll of the dice in being willing to open up a second front in the present Hamas/Israel war. Now that it’s time to take that calculated risk, it might be an opportune moment for the Lebanese contingent to remember what happened in the last round, knowing that when the time comes for them to put the pieces together and rebuild, Mashaal won’t be pitching in to lend a hand.

It takes some people a bit longer to figure out what is in their best interest, but given the scorn that is now being heaped upon the Hamas leader, we can only hope that the overdue wakeup call has finally hit home, because if it hasn’t, their home might end up being hit, yet again, by Israel.