Only Israel benefits from these one-month wars, and ten-day dust-ups that leave thousands of Palestinians dead and wounded, and zero Israeli casualties. What is happening in Gaza does not deserve to be called a war. Bill Hicks's famous line about the first Iraq War, that there never was a war, is applicable here.
Palestinians know deep down that any genuine, long-standing, and worthwhile gains must be borne from sacrifice. And the Israeli government understands that there is a limit to their aggression. The last thing the cowardly Israeli government wants is an all-out, face-to-face war in Gaza that goes on indefinitely.
Like in any war, there must be casualties on both sides before balanced concessions can be offered by the competing parties. Any ceasefire proposal at this early stage is premature and it is only proposed for political and propaganda purposes. Israelis must experience the price of their government's aggression against Gaza before any genuine ceasefire can be reached. So far they have not experienced any pain or any real consequences for their government's reckless actions, so they're still very gung-ho.
The Israeli people's enthusiasm for war can only be explained by the fact that they have yet to experience war in the flesh in their lifetime, war as it is in reality, not as it is portrayed to them by their government and media. Israel can fight six-day wars, and one month wars against a besieged population, that's easy pickings, but can it fight real wars for a long period of time?
Anybody who says Hamas is a fearsome opponent and a strong resistance movement needs to be reminded that so far there have been ZERO Israeli casualties. Hamas has done damage, sure, but mostly to its own citizens by destroying power lines and electricity infrastructure in Israel that provides 70,000 people in Gaza with electricity. This level of incompetence and stupidity can only be matched by the Iraqi army. Hamas poses no threat whatsoever to the Israeli army. It is ant versus an elephant.
The leaders of Hamas are not even standing by their people in Gaza, but miles away in Qatar. That's not leadership.
