Hamas: On the run, not on the ropes

Hamas is hurting, but far from down yet.

Hamas is damaged, but reluctant to concede to a ceasefire, intelligence leaders reported Sunday. The IDF’s head of intelligence and Shin Bet chief said the terror organization’s capabilities have been significantly reduced, but the organization may still launch a harsh response.

“Hamas is crying stop. They are dying to respond to the blow they received and recover from their lack of operative successes in the field. On the other hand, they don’t want to wave the white flag,” Major-General Amos Yadlin said in a press conference.

The brave mujahadeen who taunted the IDF much prefer hitting from afar.

“They didn’t expect our response (to rocket fire) or a ground invasion. The reduction in rocket fire derives from a reduction in ammunition. The ground offensive decreased Hamas capabilities. Their operatives evade friction with our forces and prefer remote controlled operations from a distance,” he explained.

They’re using civilians as cannon fodder, and stealing from humanitarian relief supplies—something the mainstream media always seems to miss.

Yadlin also demonstrated, using a number of intelligence videos, that Hamas continued to use civilians and civilian infrastructure as a shield. For example, intelligence photographs showed a booby-trapped school, with explosives in every classroom.

In a similar indictment of Hamas’ egregious treatment of Gaza civilians, Cabinet Secretary Oved Yehezkel made mention of Hamas’ looting of humanitarian trucks, saying that the aid was being stored in Hamas warehouses and distributed selectively only to Hamas members.

The civilians of Gaza may finally have had enough of Hamas.

Shin Bet Chief Yuval Diskin noted both of these phenomena. But, he said, Gaza citizens may have begun to protest. “There is clear evidence of Gaza residents refusing to have rocket launchers placed next to their homes.

This, as well as the deliberate execution of Fatah operatives under the cover of fire, suggests that Gaza residents are beginning to rethink their leadership. “Hamas is the target of criticism that they caused a tragedy in Gaza,” he said.

We’ll see.