How Hamas aims to trap Israel in Gaza quagmire

Hamas has prepared for a long, drawn-out war in the Gaza Strip and
believes it can hold up Israel's advance long enough to force its arch
enemy to agree to a ceasefire, two sources close to the organization's leadership said.

Hamas, which rules Gaza, has stockpiled weapons, missiles, food and
medical supplies, according to the people, who declined to be named
due to the sensitivity of the situation. The group is confident its
thousands of fighters can survive for months in a city of tunnels
carved deep beneath the Palestinian enclave and frustrate Israeli
forces with urban guerrilla tactics, the people told Reuters.

Ultimately, Hamas believes international pressure for Israel to end
the siege, as civilian casualties mount, could force a ceasefire and a negotiated settlement that would see the militant group emerge with a
tangible concession such as the release of thousands of Palestinian
prisoners in exchange for Israeli hostages, the sources said.

https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/how-hamas-aims-trap-israel-gaza-quagmire-2023-11-03/

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On 2023-11-04, JAB <here@is.invalid> wrote:

Hamas, which rules Gaza, has stockpiled weapons, missiles, food and
medical supplies, according to the people, who declined to be named
due to the sensitivity of the situation. The group is confident its
thousands of fighters can survive for months in a city of tunnels
carved deep beneath the Palestinian enclave and frustrate Israeli
forces with urban guerrilla tactics, the people told Reuters.

Seems to me like clearing out and destroying the network of tunnels
should be job #1. Bring in some industrial quantities of tear gas, and
pump out the rats. Yes, the hostages are almost certainly there too, I
know.

The video I've seen of those tunnels is incredible: concrete formwork,
electric cables, the works. The fact that they are that extensive is an embarrassment. Root em out like a blocked sewer.

As for this being some master plan, I still have yet to see any evidence
Hamas thought this through. Gaza is almost certainly to emerge weaker
from this, I suspect.

UNLESS it indeed turns into some sort of region-consuming holy war that
takes in the rest of the players.

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Retrograde wrote:

On 2023-11-04, JAB <here@is.invalid> wrote:

Hamas, which rules Gaza, has stockpiled weapons, missiles, food and
medical supplies, according to the people, who declined to be named
due to the sensitivity of the situation. The group is confident its thousands of fighters can survive for months in a city of tunnels
carved deep beneath the Palestinian enclave and frustrate Israeli
forces with urban guerrilla tactics, the people told Reuters.

The video I've seen of those tunnels is incredible: concrete formwork, electric cables, the works. The fact that they are that extensive is an embarrassment.

An embarrassment for all of those countries that sent money to the poor
Gaza strip... only for Hamas to spend it on weapons and extensive tunnel building (etc.) while the population above ground lived in poverty and
blamed Israel for all of their woes...

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On Sat, 4 Nov 2023 21:33:40 -0000 (UTC), Retrograde <fungus@amongus.com.invalid> wrote:

As for this being some master plan, I still have yet to
see any evidence Hamas thought this through.

I believe they had a plan, but they did not anticipate their
opponent's response. They are winging it now, with fluff rhetoric.

Israel needs to eliminate those tunnels. Some of their bombing has
exposed a tunnel or two...earth sinks down below ground level.

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On Sat, 04 Nov 2023 22:42:13 +0100, "Blueshirt"
<blueshirt@indigo.news> wrote:

An embarrassment for all of those countries that
sent money to the poor Gaza strip

If funding is not earmarked, those with sticky fingers will attempt to
snatch some.

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On Sat, 4 Nov 2023 21:33:40 -0000 (UTC), Retrograde <fungus@amongus.com.invalid> wrote:

As for this being some master plan,

IIRC, Israel has some 1,200 of them in prison, so maybe they thought
they could exchange their hostages for them.

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On 2023-11-04, Blueshirt <blueshirt@indigo.news> wrote:

Retrograde wrote:

On 2023-11-04, JAB <here@is.invalid> wrote:

Hamas, which rules Gaza, has stockpiled weapons, missiles, food and
medical supplies, according to the people, who declined to be named
due to the sensitivity of the situation. The group is confident its
thousands of fighters can survive for months in a city of tunnels
carved deep beneath the Palestinian enclave and frustrate Israeli
forces with urban guerrilla tactics, the people told Reuters.

The video I've seen of those tunnels is incredible: concrete formwork,
electric cables, the works. The fact that they are that extensive is an
embarrassment.

An embarrassment for all of those countries that sent money to the poor
Gaza strip... only for Hamas to spend it on weapons and extensive tunnel building (etc.) while the population above ground lived in poverty and
blamed Israel for all of their woes...

I 100% agree with this. Palestinians may want to be rid of Hamas as
much as Israel does. Imagine getting stuck with a shit government,
whose actions cause the neighbors to start dropping bombs on you. Not
cool. I was reading a lot of people voted for Hamas because the PLO was
such an ineffective mess. Lovely.

This is going to rage for a while, no doubt, and no one is going to
escape clean.

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