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@kbin.social
    121·
    1 year ago

    No, it is not “totally reasonable to discuss the question”

    I would not at all be surprised if the israeli government allowed this to happen.

    Are you familiar with the old robot saying, “does not compute”?

    • Puzzle_Sluts_4Ever@lemmy.worldEnglish
      210·
      1 year ago

      I have a lot of suspicions about a lot of things. Many based on a “gut feeling”

      But when there is no meaningful evidence to support it other than speculation and said “gut feeling”? It is not something I bring up.

      • Hegar@kbin.social
        111·
        1 year ago

        Ah, interesting! I personally have no moral qualms with discussing possibilities.

        • Puzzle_Sluts_4Ever@lemmy.worldEnglish
          111·
          1 year ago

          Already pointed this out in the other branch but always worth repeating

          You know, I have my suspicions about that Hegar guy. He said a few things that makes me wonder if he is a pedophile. Like, I am not saying he diddles kids, but he says the kinds of things that make me think he might? You know?

          Can you see why baseless speculation (because not properly acting on intelligence is pretty much the one constant of intelligence gathering) might have negative repercussions?

          • Hegar@kbin.social
            10·
            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.