None of that addressed my point in the slightest: Israel is helping Hamas achieve its goals. I did not advocate for any specific immediate action, which you seem to have assumed, rather I only pointed out that Hamas is getting exactly what it wants.
Discussion
To think Hamas had the ability to predict the future, speaks too highly of human intelligence. Everyone is shooting in the dark, especially Hamas. We don't know what will occur from this 10 years down the road.
Hamas has reached some of their objectives but failed with many others. Acting like anything Israel does or doesn't do plays right into their hands is indicative of some strange pathology.
They are getting what they want from a fairly narrow view of things.
1) Israel have tried the generous approach; Hamas proliferate regardless.
2) Hamas have said that they thought the Oct 7 attack would lead to an explosion of attacks from Lebanon and elsewhere once word got out. Didn’t happen. That may have been their main goal.
3) The geopolitical landscape has changed with Saudi Arabia very interested (still) in normalizing relations. That will be a huge factor in the coming years. And with this line crossed, let’s see what happens with Qatar.
#2 is the big deal. Hamas (quite reasonably) thought they'd get more support. Other than thr Jew-hating Western left, they really haven't so far.
It was rational for Hamas to launch this war, as Israel was getting close to normalizing relations with many Arab states. Hamas will succeed in stopping that temporarily. But if Israel continues to use violence against them the cost will likely be the destruction of Hamas.
The most important thing for Israel to do is to not succumb to ceasefire pressure and actually finish the job. Tens of thousands of Hamas and Hamas supporters need to be killed, and the infrastructure of Gaza needs to be destroyed. And all this needs to happen with minimal IDF casualties, which means they should not risk IDF lives for Gazan lives.
Yep, and it looks like they are definitely not going to succumb to ceasefire pressure. This time it’s different.
It was probably the worst massacre of Jews since Hitler. Unlike the Holocaust, it was documented extremely well while it was happening. And on top of all that, lots of the left wing west is straight up celebrating it, even though they most likely know what actually happened.
Under those conditions, it's reasonable to believe that most of the people pushing for a ceasefire would murder you if they had the chance.