Palestinians who live in the Gaza Strip and support the terrorist Hamas organization have had every opportunity to peacefully coexist with Israel. Unlike Hamas, rival party Fatah has wisely taken a moderate position on Israel. But Gaza has been afflicted with a deadly cancer ever since Hamas became the Palestinians’ ruling party.

As long as Hamas exists, there will be no lasting peace between Palestinians and Israelis. The Palestinians should, once and for all, settle their internal political differences and apply pressure to dismantle the rogue outfit.

Israel certainly cannot be blamed for striking back at Gaza as it did beginning this weekend in response to more than 200 Hamas rockets that were fired into Israeli territory on Dec. 19. Those Hamas attacks shattered a six-month cease-fire.

That so many other nations continually refuse to recognize Israel’s right to self-defense remains baffling. If anything, other nations should get solidly behind Israel’s effort to rid its neighborhood of terrorism. If other nations had the fortitude to confront terrorism head-on the way Israel does, the world would be a much better place to live.

It is no doubt a tragedy that civilians have been killed during this latest round of attacks. But this bloodshed could have easily been avoided had the Palestinian people stood up to Hamas, which does not even recognize Israel’s right to exist.

“In order for the violence to stop, Hamas must stop firing rockets into Israel and agree to respect a sustainable and durable cease-fire,” White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said Monday. “Hamas has once again shown its true colors as a terrorist organization.”

It is telling that Hamas’ strongest supporters include Iran’s supreme religious leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and the leader of the militant Hezbollah in Lebanon, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah. Iran and Hezbollah, like Hamas, are not peace-loving and they continue to do everything in their power to fuel unrest in the Middle East.

If the Palestinians refuse to take action against Hamas, the new Obama administration, after it takes over next month, should use its influence to put international pressure on the Palestinian people to rid Gaza of terrorists. With Hamas out of the picture, there is still a chance for lasting peace between the Israelis and Palestinians.