( JNS) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s firm stand against allowing any reconstruction efforts in Gaza until the “disarming of Hamas and demilitarization of Gaza’s weapons and tunnels” is completed is not about being cruel or punishment, but is about saving innocent lives. This position is far too often misrepresented by Israel’s critics as harsh or punitive. In reality, it reflects a hard-earned lesson drawn from years of experience confronting a terrorist organization that has repeatedly exploited humanitarian gestures to advance its war against civilians.

Israeli officials have long been justifiably concerned about the danger of dual-use items such as cement. On the one hand, cement can be used for innocent purposes, such as home construction, when it is in the hands of a peace-seeking, trustworthy authority. But in the hands of untrustworthy elements, such as the Hamas regime that has ruled the Gaza Strip for two decades, cement has been used for other purposes, including the construction of terror tunnels. This is why no rebuilding can take place as long as Hamas remains.

This concern is not theoretical. Israel has fought multiple wars against Hamas long before 2023, and each round followed a similar pattern. After “Operation Cast Lead” in 2008-09, construction materials, including cement, were allowed back into Gaza under international supervision. Hamas subsequently diverted significant quantities of those materials into reinforcing underground military infrastructure rather than rebuilding civilian homes. The same thing was repeated following “Operation Pillar of Defense” in 2012, as Hamas continued expanding its terror-tunnel network and rocket-production capabilities.

The pattern was even more pronounced after “Operation Protective Edge” in 2014, when Israel uncovered dozens of cross-border attack tunnels, many reinforced with concrete and equipped with electricity, ventilation and communications systems. These tunnels were not defensive. Hamas designed these tunnels to infiltrate Israeli territory and facilitate kidnappings and mass murder of civilians. Yet even after that war, international pressure led to renewed flows of construction materials into Gaza—materials that once again found their way into Hamas’s military rebuilding efforts.

Netanyahu’s comments reflect this accumulated experience: “I’m hearing even now claims that Gaza’s reconstruction will be allowed before demilitarization; this will not happen.” This is not a negotiating posture or political rhetoric. It is a clear statement of policy shaped by repeated evidence that reconstruction without demilitarization only guarantees the next round of attacks from Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

Concrete for the foundation of a building can also be used to make tunnels, as Hamas has demonstrated again and again. Israel is the only country in the world whose next-door neighbors have built dozens of tunnels into its territory to perpetrate massacres of civilians. No other nation would be expected to tolerate a situation in which its neighbor systematically digs beneath its borders in preparation for deadly attacks.

Israel fought previous wars against Hamas and PIJ before Oct. 7, 2023. But that invasion of and massacre in southern Israel only happened because the international community put cement into Hamas’s hands, enabling it to build its sophisticated terror tunnel network. The scale, coordination and brutality of the Oct. 7 attack did not materialize overnight. It was the result of years of preparation made possible by materials sent and collected under the banner of reconstruction.

Cement is not the only problem. Other tightly controlled or banned materials have also been exploited by Hamas. Electronics, wiring and commercial components intended for civilian use have been diverted into rocket-guidance systems, detonators and communications equipment. Metal piping, steel and even unexploded ordnance have been repurposed into rockets and explosives. Hamas has demonstrated a consistent ability to transform civilian goods into weapons, turning humanitarian aid into a force multiplier for terror.

These facts alone should rule out rebuilding Gaza until Hamas is completely out of the picture. To ignore these facts is not an act of compassion; it is dangerous denial. Hamas must be dismantled. Rebuilding while Hamas remains armed and in control would not bring peace or stability. It would simply provide the terrorist organization with the raw materials it needs to prepare for the next massacre at the expense of both Israeli and Palestinian civilians.

There is nothing humanitarian about rebuilding Gaza while leaving Hamas armed and in control. Demilitarization is not a barrier to reconstruction; it is the safeguard that ensures reconstruction does not once again end in the mass murder of Israeli civilians.