Israel might have been caught off-guard by Hamas’s invasion of southern Israel; however, it would face an uphill battle trying to wipe the Jewish state off the map. Hamas showed its ugly face to the world.
The slaughter of over 1,000 Israelis by Hamas was a mistake because it gave Israelis the unity they lacked prior to the Hamas invasion. Israel knows its back is against the wall. Defeat for Israel means genocide. Hamas proved that Israelis who have warned about that aspect of Hamas’s way of thinking were not engaging in mere hyperbole.
The assault was the biggest surprise attack since the Yom Kippur War of 1973. Just as in 1973 when Richard Nixon kept Israel supplied to stay in the fight, President Joe Biden’s vow to back Israel to the end means it will be difficult for Hamas to win. American logistical support for Israel will be key to keeping it in the fight, especially if Iran becomes directly involved.
“Hamas even with all the backing and support from various state funders is still not a fully fledged state actor and in conventional combat, situation does not measure up to the IDF,” geopolitical analyst Irina Tsukerman told 19FortyFive. “These important tactical victories are not enough to cause the collapse of the State; however, Israel will be challenged much more existentially if it fails to achieve its goals of reinstating deterrence in Gaza, disabling Hamas operational capabilities, which would include taking out all operational leadership.”
Hamas Unites Israel as Attack Causes People to Wake Up
A handful of attacks here or there or the temper tantrums of rocket attacks that were capably handled by Israel’s Iron Dome until recently gave the impression to liberals in the West that Hamas was just a band of noble freedom fighters oppressed by the Israelis. Now even liberals as distinguished from those on the hard Left are forced to confront the reality that Hamas is a genocidal force.
“How many Israelis, or Jews, or anyone else for that matter, have read the 1988 Hamas Covenant or the revised charter that was issued in 2017? With 36 articles of only a few paragraphs’ length each in the former, and 42 concise statements of general principles and objectives in the latter, both are considerably shorter and more digestible than the 782-page original German-language edition of Mein Kampf. Moreover, unlike Hitler’s seminal work, which was not published in English until March 1939, excellent English translations of both the original Hamas Covenant and its successor can easily be found on the internet,” Georgetown University Professor Bruce Hoffman writes in The Atlantic, noting that Hamas claims the entire land of Palestine by divine right and under Islamic religious rule, which precludes sharing it with Jews. “… [T]he covenant comes to the Islamic Resistance Movement’s raison d’être: the slaughter of Jews. “The Day of Judgement will not come about,” it proclaims, “until Moslems fight the Jews (killing the Jews), when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say O Moslems, O Abdulla, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him.”
Hamas united Israel. That will go a long way toward helping it in its resilience against Hamas. Idealism is giving way to reality.
Iran’s Key to Hamas Fight
Hamas lacks the resources to defeat Israel on its own. An insurgency on the West Bank combined with constant attacks from Hizballah and Iranian-backed Shiite militia in Syria could force Israel into its first two-front war since 1973.
Hizballah General Secretary Hasan Nasrallah vowed to use the precision rockets and missiles it has received to neutralize all Israeli military bases and other logistical hubs.
The reality is that Hamas and Hizballah are appendages of Iran. The longer this war continues the greater likelihood of war between Israel and Iran will become.
The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) reports that Iran began planning this operation in 2020 based on an Iranian newspaper close to the regime called “Keyhan.” It notes that Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei hinted at the plan in August 2023 and in 2022.
If Iran decides to put all of its cards on the table it could lead to a wider war that could suck in the U.S.
John Rossomando is a defense and counterterrorism analyst and served as Senior Analyst for Counterterrorism at The Investigative Project on Terrorism for eight years. His work has been featured in numerous publications such as The American Thinker, The National Interest, National Review Online, Daily Wire, Red Alert Politics, CNSNews.com, The Daily Caller, Human Events, Newsmax, The American Spectator, TownHall.com, and Crisis Magazine. He also served as senior managing editor of The Bulletin, a 100,000-circulation daily newspaper in Philadelphia, and received the Pennsylvania Associated Press Managing Editors first-place award for his reporting.
