EDITORIAL: Remember why Israel must destroy Hamas

“Keep the main thing, the main thing” sounds like a simplistic piece of advice. But President Joe Biden’s response to what happened in Israel shows how difficult it can be in practice.

It has been just more than two weeks since Hamas terrorists invaded Israel and committed unimaginable atrocities. They murdered more than 1,300 people, including at least 32 Americans. They beheaded babies. They raped girls and women. They burned people to death. They’re holding around 200 hostages, including some Americans.

When he addressed the nation Thursday, Mr. Biden rightly noted, “The terrorist group Hamas unleashed pure, unadulterated evil.” But overall, the president’s address could best be described as disjointed and lackluster while muddying the waters by dwelling on Ukraine.

Let’s not forget why the president traveled to the Middle East in the first place. It wasn’t because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

This reality, as horrifying and unpleasant as the details are, must be kept front and center, because it explains what came next. Israel vowed to wipe out Hamas, launching a counterattack. For days, it has been striking targets in the Gaza Strip, which Hamas governs and operates out of.

Israel’s actions are morally justified as a basic responsibility of a functional government. One of the primary duties of government is to secure the rights — like the right to not be beheaded by terrorists — of its people. The Western world has become so powerful that many have forgotten what it takes to secure those rights.

Terrorist groups don’t share our presuppositions about representative government and God-given rights. They want to kill their enemies, not debate them. They must confronted and forced to surrender unconditionally.

While Western countries, such as Israel, work to limit civilian casualties, Hamas welcomes them. It hides its military infrastructure among and under hospitals and schools. That way when Israel strikes legitimate military targets, the terrorists complain about civilian casualties. Hamas seeks to use the West’s morality against it by blaming Israel for those deaths. But the moral responsibility lies with the Hamas terrorists.

When a blast occurred outside a hospital in the Gaza Strip. Hamas rushed to blame Israel and claimed 500 casualties. The usual suspects and some Democrat members of Congress tripped over themselves to blame Israel.

But overwhelming evidence, including videos, showed the explosion came from a rocket fired inside the Gaza Strip toward Israel. The story now fades from view, but it shouldn’t.

Mr. Biden should have more forcefully denounced the many rallies — right here in America — where participants chanted, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” That’s a thinly coded call to wipe Israel off the map, which probably would result in the deaths of millions Jews.

The president also barely mentioned Iran, which backs Hamas. Where is the plan to tie up Iranian oil money? It’s wonderful that two American hostages were released on Friday. What’s the plan to free the rest?

Hamas can’t defeat the Israeli military. Its survival depends of using dead civilians in the Gaza Strip to create outrage among Israel’s allies in hopes they will pressure Israel to de-escalate.

Mr. Biden needs to meet this moment by offering moral clarity, not clouding the issue with ancillary issues.