Hamas seems euphoric, says ToI analyst

The Times of Israel’s Palestinian affairs correspondent Avi Issacharoff files an analysis piece highlighting that Israel is caught in a war between the divided Sunni Muslim world. On one side: Egypt and the Palestinian Authority, with Jordan and Saudi Arabia likely to join them in the next couple of days. On the other, Qatar, Turkey and Hamas, as well as other global supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood.

He says Hamas “is confident, even euphoric. In recent days, people who came into contact with the Palestinian terror organization’s leaders report that the sense they are broadcasting is that Hamas is besieging Tel Aviv, and that it will be starting its invasion of Israel shortly — and not that the IDF is striking hard at Gaza, has its ground troops hitting Hamas in the Palestinian enclave, and is setting back the Hamas terrorist infrastructure by years, as IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz put it on Friday night….

“All this requires Israel to reconsider its preconceived notions and its plans of action with regard to Hamas… Hamas has been operating under the basic assumption that Israel will ultimately work to preserve its hold on the Strip. Hence Hamas’s current confidence, even euphoria. Hamas believes Israel does not want to bring it down or to assassinate its leaders….

“This is not a recommendation for the IDF to reoccupy Gaza. But to bring an end to this conflict, Hamas must be led to believe that its demise may be just around the corner if it does not lay down its weapons. It certainly doesn’t think that now.”

Read the full story here.