Leading up to the attack, Hamas fighters were being trained and drilled — often in plain sight, Reuters reported.

  • Hamas duped Israel into thinking it cared more about economic stability than a war, Reuters said.

  • Meanwhile, it was practicing for an attack in plain sight, the report said.

  • Hamas trained its fighters on a mock Israeli settlement, learning how to storm it, Reuters added.

———

The Palestinian militant group Hamas built a mock Israeli town in Gaza and practiced attacking in plain sight — but Israel didn’t react, Reuters reported on Sunday.

Hamas militants launched a surprise offensive on Israel on Saturday, in what has been described as the worst breach in Israel’s defenses in decades.

The attack followed a careful campaign of deception by Hamas that ensured Israel was caught off guard over the weekend, an unnamed source, with connections to the group, told Reuters.

Despite convincing Israel that they had no interest in war, Hamas militants were practicing for the offensive in plain sight by setting up a mock Israeli settlement in Gaza to train its fighters.

    • Hegar
      11•1 year ago

      But it’s baseful speculation, based on Netanayahu’s past actions.

      He intentionally dialed up tensions as recently as the first round of protests against eliminating judicial independence.

      A more apt anology would be if I was convicted sex offender and suddenly there were hundreds and hundreds of molested children, and people started “just asking questions” about whether I was involved. It’s unlikely that I would have done something on that scale - I’m not a priest. But it’s not a bad faith argument to discuss whether I could be involved.

      I think you’re mistaking some noncommittal discussion of the reality of politics in that region with a known bad faith argument.