Hamas’ Self-inflicted Genocide

Hamas’ horrific and futile sacrifice of tens of thousands of women and children failed to achieve its goals:

• It failed to ignite an all-out involvement of Iran in a war against Israel.
• It led to the collapse of Iran’s strategy and capabilities against Israel.
• It led to the loss of Iran’s air defenses, now defenseless against Israel.

However, and incredibly, bent on maximizing casualties among its people, Hamas succeeded in its propaganda efforts in the academic and political left in the EU and the USA. The murder of tens of thousands of civilians is now hailed by left-leaning politicians, academic gurus and their gullible followers as an act of resistance, liberation and anti-colonial warfare.

Background

Hamas perpetuated the October 7 horrific atrocities on Israeli civilians with the expectation and intent of triggering a massive Israeli retaliation that would ignite a full-scale regional war and preempt the emergence of a USA-Saudi-Israeli anti-Iranian coalition.

Hamas’ sacrifice of tens of thousands of Palestinians in the Gaza War was a premeditated and inhumane strategy born out of apocalyptic Jihadist minds. Hamas could have shielded all Gazan civilians from harm by allowing them shelter in its tunnels, which it refused.

The scope, premeditation and callousness of Hamas’ sacrifice of Palestinian civilians is without precedent in modern warfare. By planning and executing its horrific plan, by denying shelter to Palestinian non-combatants in its vast network of tunnels and by impeding and obstructing the evacuation of civilians from areas of combat – Hamas, acting as Iran’s minion and proxy, is guilty of the unprecedented and self-induced Genocide of tens of thousands of innocent Palestinian civilians.

Hamas is designated as a terrorist organization by 28 Western states (including the United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union, Israel, Australia, Canada, Japan, and New Zealand – and by the Organization of American States (35 countries). Hamas is also a pariah organization among fellow Suni Muslims and has become a minion and proxy of Shia Iran – the archenemy of The West and of the leading Suni countries (Egypt, Saudia Arabia, Gulf States, Jordan, Turkey and Indonesia). This designation is based on Hamas’s history of carrying out deliberate attacks on Israeli civilians and on its stated genocidal objectives – as specified in its Charter and in countless declarations and documents.

Since 2007, Hamas (an offshoot of the Suni Muslim Brotherhood) has governed the populated Gaza Strip, home to over 2 million people following the 2005 unilateral Israeli withdrawal, intended to facilitate and test the ability of Palestinians to self-govern and coexist peacefully. Since, Hamas has inflicted on the Palestinian population and on the adjacent Israeli territory a reign of recurring terror and death. During these 17 years Israel attempted and tested all possible strategies to reach some degree of security for the Israeli towns and villages that populate the area around the Gaza strip – unsuccessfully. During these 17 years, these traumatized communities have lived under constant terrorism and rocket and mortar attacks. Recurring cycles of calm and warfare became the norm.

Hamas’  attack on October 7th 2023  included  horrific acts of  murder, violence, rape and kidnapping of babies, women and elderly civilians – that were showcased and glorified as heroic acts of “liberation” in videos shot by Hamas’ terrorists, by its leaders and its supporters ( https://cutt.ly/AeZ2LnKL). The atrocities committed by Hamas on October 7 2023[i] and its premeditated exposure of the Palestinian civilian population to Israel’s retaliation were a failed attempt to ignite an all-out war between Israel and Iran, and to derail the US-Saudi-Israeli emerging alliance. Although the final outcome of the current conflict is yet to fully emerge, an all-out war between Israel and Iran did not materialize and the US-Saudi-Israeli alliance is still plausible and in the best interest of all parties.

Hamas’ objectives, successes and failures

Hamas’ Oct 7^th atrocities seem to have been designed to elicit a powerful Israeli retaliation that would ignite an all-out involvement of Iran in a war against Israel and strengthen Iran’s strategic positioning and capabilities against Israel,

Hamas failed in its objectives excluding its success in its propaganda efforts among the academic and political left. Aided by the paralysis of the Netanyahu government and its failure to formulate a post-war policy, Hamas also has an opening to remain the governing authority in the Gaza strip.

Israel´s failures, objectives and successes

Hamas – The failure to interpret the indications and signals of a looming Hamas operation are the subject of intense debate in Israeli military, political and social forums. The defense minister and the top military leaders have assumed responsibility and have resigned.

The self-inflicted and avoidable horrific civilian casualties in the Gaza War are a sobering reminder of the brutality of urban warfare. Hamas, by using its civilians as human shields and by refusing them shelter in its vast network of tunnels, assumed primary responsibility for the death of tens of thousands.

All reputable experts in urban warfare acknowledge Israel´s unparalleled efforts to reduce civilian casualties.[ii] Despite varying views, most argue that Israel has implemented more measures to prevent civilian casualties than any other army.  Israel’s urban warfare strategy, capabilities and policies following the initial intelligence failure and the barbaric atrocities committed against innocent Israeli civilians young and old – were relatively successful, effective and spared countless Palestinian lives.

Although the casualty figures released for propaganda purposes by a manipulative and unreliable terrorist organization are paraded in the media daily, less than half of the death toll may be considered civilian casualties. The rest are Hamas operatives, many of which are underage and included in the “children” category. Despite being burdened by the usage of all the population as human shields, the resulting combatant to civilian ratio of 1/1 or 1/2 is remarkably low for modern urban warfare.[iii]

Gaza and the Palestinian problem remain unresolved and ever-explosive. Facing multiple corruption trials, dependent on extreme nationalist parties, opposed to any solution of the Palestinian problem and unable (or unwilling) to put forward a plan for post-war Gaza – the Netanyahu government is paralyzed. In these circumstances, the triggers in the horizon (his criminal trials, the collapse of his coalition, Saudi demands or Trump’s dictates) will determine the path forward. Netanyahu’s paralysis may also enable the resurgence of Hamas as the de facto governing authority in Gaza, squandering the success of the IDF and the Israeli losses in life, wounded and treasure.

Hezbollah

Hezbollah, contrary to Hamas, was considered a strategic threat by most Israeli military experts.

The decimation of Hezbollah’s capabilities by the Israeli Mossad and Airforce is one the great military successes of this conflict. Created by Iran to act as “the” doomsday weapon against Israel and feared for the potential massive loss of life and infrastructure it was capable of inflicting due to its massive arsenal of rockets and missiles, Hezbollah is now a shadow of its former self.

Iran

Iran is without doubt the great loser of the “Gaza War.”

The decimation of Iran’s proxy strategy and capabilities against Israel (Hezbollah, Hamas, Syria and the Houties) and the loss of its air defenses, has greatly weakened the strategic standing of Iran and has rendered it defenseless against an Israeli attack on its nuclear installations.

The fall of the Assad regime, due in part to Russia’s inability to defend it, has erased the Iranian Middle East axis (Iran, Russia, Syria) – facilitating the emergence of the USA-Suni-Israel alliance.

The New Middle East?

The Israeli military success and the unprecedented support and participation of the USA in the defense of Israel in the war against the Iranian proxies (Hezbollah, Hamas and the Houties) has enabled and facilitated a new future for the region.  The future configuration of the Middle East is yet evolving, but has the following emerging characteristics, potentialities and threats:

• The weakening of Iran due to the collapse of its decades-long investment in the proxy strategy, the collapse of the Syrian Assad regime and the Russian retreat in the area.
• The weakening of Iran’s nuclear threat due to Israel’s destruction of its air defense capabilities. Negotiations or destruction of nuclear capabilities are the only options open to a weakened Iran.
• Gaza and the Palestinian problem remain unresolved and ever explosive. Facing multiple corruption trials, dependent on extreme nationalist parties, and opposed to any solution to the Palestinian problem- Netanyahu has no vision or plan for post war Gaza. He is paralyzed, in wait for external triggers in the horizon: the outcome of his trials, the collapse of his coalition, Saudi demands or Trump’s dictates.

[i] https://www.october7.org/

[ii] https://cutt.ly/geBW1E3N

https://cutt.ly/NeBrLG1B

1.John Spencer, Chair of Urban Warfare Studies at the Modern War Institute at West Point and is the Co-Director of the Urban Warfare Project. www.johnspenceronline.com. 2. Jim Petrila The Foreign Policy Research Institute3. 3. Philip Wasielewski, director of FPRI’s Center for the Study of Intelligence and Nontraditional Warfare.4. Dr. Frederick M. Burkle, Jr. – Dr. Burkle is a physician, public health expert, and a Senior Fellow at the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative.  5.General David Petraeus – General Petraeus is a retired U.S. Army General who has served in various command positions, including commanding the surge in Iraq. 6. General Stanley McChrystal – Joint Special Operations Command and the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan.