The sheer scale of the cross-border terror attack on Israel by Hamas from the Gaza Strip it controls was a jaw-dropper. The much vaunted Israeli intelligence wing Mossad’s reputation was muddied as it failed to get even a whiff of the massive operation that would have taken months of planning. And so was the image of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a toughie on terror. That he heads a far-right coalition was even more ironic. His government had in recent weeks thrown the nation into turmoil and weakened its morale by trimming the powers of its higher judiciary, which even led to military desertions.
Grossly underestimating the motivation and ability of Hamas despite frequent buzz on a third intifada, the country was observing a relaxed Jewish holiday when the first wave of attacks began. The first and the second intifadas—Palestinian uprisings against occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip—happened in 1987 and 2000, respectively. Half an hour into Saturday’s missile attacks, its gun-toting fighters broke through the highly fortified Gaza fence and motored into Israel on bikes and trucks. The second batch innovated by flying in via microlight aircraft while the third incursion was amphibious. All intruders shot at any moving object in sight, civilian or military, reviving memories of the 26/11 Pakistani terror assault on Mumbai in 2008. The indiscriminate Hamas massacre left heaps of bodies—over 600 at last count. Amid the bloodbath, another bunch of intruders commandeered Israeli vehicles, took dozens of hostages and sped back to Gaza to hold them as bargaining chips. Their dragging of bodies of soldiers along the streets and parading a naked Israeli woman’s corpse told the tale of triumphalism and brutality. Netanyahu described it as war and promised unprecedented retribution. Around 400 have since been killed in the counterattacks on Gaza that has an estimated 2.3 million Palestinians.
Whether or not Israel can take out the Hamas leadership is unknown, but poor Gazans are now at the receiving end of the hellfire. Supported as Hamas is by Iran, the attack could possibly be Tehran’s response to Mossad nosing around its nuclear plants. The carnage also happened amid Israeli-Saudi rapprochement and West Asia getting into some sort of detente, which sends its own message. Israel is no paragon of virtue but senseless mayhem cannot be condoned as fighting for rights. Hamas has clearly harmed its cause.