This is a refreshed megathread for any posts on the conflict between (so far, and so far as I know) Hamas and the Israeli government, as well as related geopolitics. Culture War thread rules apply.
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Notes -
Never underestimate the power of holding the initiative.
The party line right now is that response teams were stretched too thin. Some Hamas forces were able to pin them down while others went and shot up music festivals. The Israeli strategy wasn’t prepared for this many coordinated attacks.
Now, there is an obvious case that intelligence fucked up big time, and missed signs of the buildup. I don’t know if this is true! Hindsight, after all, is 20/20. But it’s separate from the question of whether a border fence and buffer is sufficient. Israel tried that, tried to staff it with appropriate response teams, and Hamas worked around it anyway.
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