Ha’aretz has an analysis that says those of us who think Hamas hasn’t been cowed are wrong.
His soldiers explained that, if it boils down to choosing between their own lives and Palestinian houses, the choice is clear. Lt. Col. Cohen of Givati told Haaretz that, in his view, Hamas is at fault, for having booby-trapping populated buildings.
The IDF’s progress this week was evident mainly in the sector where the regular Paratroops brigade is operating, in northern Gaza City – the place where the forces encountered the toughest resistance. Paratroop officers described the house-to-house searches: Everywhere they turned, they found an opening to a tunnel, a Qassam launcher, an RPG (rocket-propelled grenade) launcher or a booby-trapped door.
The brigade commander is Col. Hertzi Halevy, a former Sayeret Matkal commander. When Halevy, who transferred from the Paratroops to the unit in the early 1990s, returned to the Paratroops as their commander, he was maligned by some for his rigidity and aloofness. This war has highlighted the usefulness of his cool temper and thoughtful leadership. Other brigade commanders have also cemented their leadership in Gaza.
The officers in the field see eye to eye with Military Intelligence officials: Deterrence has been achieved. This is the “Dahiya Doctrine,” which GOC Northern Command Maj. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot spoke of a few months before the war. The destruction in Gaza is reminiscent of what the air force did to Beirut’s Shi’ite Dahiya quarter two and a half years ago. Israel has made it clear that it is capable of inflicting enormous damage if provoked in such a way that it feels compelled to respond.
Read the whole thing. It’s a world of information and fascinating analysis:
The Israeli operation in Gaza was completely disproportional. But though it might not meet the criteria of the International Court of Justice in The Hague, in the tough neighborhood we live in, the message appears to have gotten across. The deterrence that has worked in Lebanon for the past two and a half years, after a failed war, may also work in Gaza, where the results have been completely different, and much better from Israel’s standpoint.
This matches what Israel Network News reports a captured terrorist said:
“Hamas took a gamble. We thought, at worst Israel will come and do something from the air – something superficial. They’ll come in and go out. We never thought that we would reach the point where fear will swallow the heart and the feet will want to flee. You [Israel] are fighting like you fought in ‘48. What got into you all of a sudden?”
It is 1948. World leaders are calling for the end of Israel, for Israel to be thrown out of the UN, and for boycotts and the delegitimization of Israel. Jews all over the world are being threatened. And the Jewish State is fighting for its existence. Hamas isn’t an existential threat? Yes it is. When a terrorist group that has launched thousands of rockets since it took over the Gaza Strip can draw the world’s sympathy instead of its opprobrium, Israel’s existence is at stake. When “protesters” all over the world call Israel an illegitimate state, Israel’s existence is at stake. When Iran rushes on to a nuclear bomb, and the world does nothing—Israel’s existence is at stake.