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.

  • ShittyBeatlesFCPres@lemmy.worldEnglish
    332·
    1 year ago

    I don’t think the conspiracy theory that they had advance knowledge is true, if only because the immediate response was so chaotic. If they knew, they’d have at least had a plan to respond.

    But one thing that’s not a conspiracy is that Netanyahu had a policy to strengthen Hamas as part of a cynical strategy to kill off the 2 state solution. Basically, undermine the more moderate Palestinian Authority by allowing Hamas to get more organized, rule Gaza without fresh elections, let Hamas-linked groups distribute aid, etc.

    So, while I don’t think they knew about the current attacks, I do think they knew an attack would eventually, inevitably come and they thought it’d be worth it to have Hamas as a boogeyman.