While Israeli and American hostages sit, bloody and terrified, chained, bound and caged in underground dungeons in Gaza, their kidnappers were given yet more encouragement last week. The latest helping hand to Hamas was extended by the government of South Africa, a staunch Hamas ally, which has filed a charge in the International Court of Justice accusing Israel of “genocide.”

If charging Israel with genocide for trying to protect itself from another genocidal attack by a Hamas regime pledged to complete a genocide against it seems like Alice-in-Wonderland-on-steroids, that’s because, well, that’s what it is. And for those who have long held that no matter what the facts, state and non-state actors that simply want Israeli eliminated will accuse it of “war crimes” every time, there now is officially no reason to look for further proof.

For anyone who does not rely exclusively on TikTok for their information, what happened on Oct. 7 and what has happened since ought not to be obscure. Three thousand heavily armed gunmen funded and trained by Iran violated a supposed “ceasefire,” invaded Israel, savagely murdered 1,200 souls and mutilated 5,800 others, blowing families to pieces, executing everyone in sight, burning, dismembering and raping every human being they could – while kidnapping some 240 others. The genocide of Jews is what Hamas explicitly calls for, explicitly pledges itself to and explicitly promises to achieve.

Hamas has a sound battle plan, and some significant advantages in implementing it. By hiding in the extraordinarily sophisticated tunnels underneath apartment buildings, schools, hospitals and community centers, it dares Israel: when you come after us, you will by definition kill Palestinian civilians, and that is fine with us. Once that starts, we will accuse you of genocide. Footage of the dead civilians whose deaths we have deliberately brought about will flood the world – and the world will believe us when we say that you, not we, are responsible for it.

You will be a pariah. Useful idiots on America’s Left will pressure Democrats to castigate you, to call for an end to American support for Israel, to demand “Ceasefire Now!” You will be forced to capitulate to this, as you have done in the past. This will demoralize your already traumatized citizenry. Your economy will take a huge hit thanks to reserve call-ups and fearful tourists. Your country will be weakened.

And as for us, we will remain in power. As they have done in the past, our trusty international bankrollers will give us billions of dollars in “humanitarian aid.”  As we have done in the past, we will steal it. We will rebuild our fortifications, and we will re-arm. And then, when we are ready, we will launch another wave of attacks on Israel, more deadly than before. And the past will be repeated, just as before.

Congressman Ritchie Torres, D-NY, was being polite when he addressed the claim that what Israel really ought to do now is stick its head in the sand and fold. “Those calling for a ‘permanent ceasefire,’” he posted last Thursday, “are calling for something that exists only as a figment of their imagination.” He might have used the phrase “willful blindness,” or perhaps “intellectual mendacity.” In a speech last week in Qatar, where he lives in lavish splendor while consigning Gazans to destruction, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh called Oct. 7 “a glorious day in the life of humanity.” He urged Hamas’ supporters everywhere to “hold on to the victory that took place on Oct. 7 and build upon it. “ He thanked those who are “pouring weapons” onto Israel – killing Israelis.

But it’s Israel that is guilty of genocide.

It requires real mindlessness not to understand that the genocide in this conflict is perpetrated by Hamas, not by the victims of that genocide, who did not want Oct. 7, and who have no choice but to try to prevent it from re-occurring.

No choice other than national suicide. Which is not a choice.

Jeff Robbins is a Boston lawyer and former U.S. delegate to the United Nations Human Rights Commission.