Hamas overwhelmed Israel’s border in October with something like a conventional military maneuver. Now, it acts as a guerrilla force, its fighters often disguised as civilians.

An analysis of battlefield videos released by Hamas and interviews with three Hamas members and scores of Israeli soldiers

Using civilian homes and infrastructure — including medical facilities, U.N. offices and mosques — to conceal fighters, tunnel entrances, booby-traps and ammunition stores;
Ambushing Israeli soldiers with small groups of fighters dressed as civilians, as well as using civilians, including children, to act as lookouts;

The video seems to show Hamas fighters, their faces blurred, sitting on patterned mats as they plan the attack. They use pen, paper and a digital tablet to draw simplistic maps detailing where they want to plant a set of roadside mines.
“We ask, O Lord, for the ambush to achieve its goals — let us kill your enemies, the Jews,” the narrator says.

  • Flying SquidMEnglish
    2•2 months ago

    Nice whataboutism, but no, aiding a genocide is also not a good thing.

    Believe it or not, there doesn’t need to be a good side and a bad side to everything.

    Israel is bad. Hamas is bad. The U.S. is bad. All of these things can be true without any contradictions.

    You can call them freedom fighters or whatever you like. They are still theocrats who want a theocracy that will oppress the Palestinian people.

    • @LinkerbaanEnglish
      -6•2 months ago

      Hamas has already agreed to hold elections after the Genocide is over.

      • Flying SquidMEnglish
        6•2 months ago

        Why on Earth would you believe a bunch of theocrats? They didn’t hold an election for decades. Most Palestinians in Gaza weren’t even old enough to vote, if they were even alive, when Hamas last held an election. And no, that’s not Israel’s fault. Israel, despite all of the horrible things they were doing in Gaza, never did anything to prevent Hamas from holding an election. They didn’t because they don’t want democracy, they want a theocracy. Just read their charter.

        Again, fighting Israel doesn’t make you good. It just makes you a group fighting a bad thing. Similarly, the Azov Brigade is fighting for Ukrainian freedom from Russia, but they’re still a bunch of Nazis, and I am sure that the Jewish president of Ukraine is not happy about having to work with them. He’s doing it anyway because they’re necessary to fight Russia. They aren’t suddenly good just because they are helping Ukraine fight for their freedom.

        Iran might go into a fight with Israel. Are you going to start praising Iran if that happens?

        • @LinkerbaanEnglish
          -5•2 months ago

          Hamas has put their promise to hold elections on paper when a Palestinian state is established as part of the ceasefire deal.

          Hamas likely won’t be a great government party. Resistance groups never really make great peacetime leaders. Just like with the ANC. However they are needed to get to the start of an independent country. The PA sure isn’t making the Palestinians safer.

          Iran would be much more normalized too if we didn’t keep overthrowing their government every few decades. And israel stops assassinating their leaders.

          If we stop meddling eventually a population ejects the wartime party and normalizes as we see with South Africa right now. And that also takes decades but it has to start somewhere. But putting the cart before the horse is not how this works.

            • @LinkerbaanEnglish
              -6•2 months ago

              Recent elections saw the ANC losing ground and other parties now gaining traction. If the Apartheid was still in place we would never reach this stage. That is my point.

              As I said it takes time to rebuild a country from oppression. Cooperation is difficult when the modus operandi was every man for himself for so many years.

              • Flying SquidMEnglish
                5•2 months ago

                Elections are all you think matter? Read the article. Africa is one of the most unequal countries on the planet.

                But sure, the ANC is losing ground. Other than that, it’s just fine and black people have no problems anymore.

                • @LinkerbaanEnglish
                  -2•2 months ago

                  Yes I am aware the ANC heavily sold out to the Apartheid after winning. Their members took cushy jobs.

                  My point is that the ANC is currently starting to lose ground and other parties are rising up.

                  Liberation starts with Hamas but it is not necessarily the party that will define Palestine forever. Hamas always loses popularity in peace time.

                  • Flying SquidMEnglish
                    2•2 months ago

                    Yes I am aware the ANC heavily sold out to the Apartheid after winning. Their members took cushy jobs.

                    My point is that the ANC is currently starting to lose ground and other parties are rising up.

                    Which means that, as you said, South Africa is “normalized?” And that’s the sort of normalized you foresee for Palestine?

                    Liberation starts with Hamas but it is not necessarily the party that will define Palestine forever. Hamas always loses popularity in peace time.

                    Yes, because Palestinians also know that Hamas is not good, just helpful at the moment. You even seem to be admitting it tacitly by saying that, so I’m not even sure what your point is anymore.