Little Satan's Strip

Since the smack of cordite is fading, the smoke and dust have settled and Little Satan split the Strip, as Palestinians and the death cult HAMAS retrieves the dead - what exactly were the gains?

Tactical and Strategic?

Depends.

For Little Satan hater Dr John Mearsheimer (who recently was dissed to the Nth degree when he released his conspiracy book about how Little Satan controls Great Satan - right before SaudiLand scored the biggest arms deal in history) -Little Satan totally lost.

"There is little reason to think that the Israelis can beat Hamas into
submission and get the Palestinians to live quietly in a handful of Bantustans inside Greater Israel. Israel has been humiliating, torturing, and killing Palestinians in the Occupied Territories since 1967 and has not come close to cowing them.

Indeed, Hamas’s reaction to Israel’s brutality seems to lend credence
to Nietzsche’s remark that what does not kill you makes you stronger.

The bottom line is that no matter what happens on the battlefield,
Israel cannot win its war in Gaza. In fact, it is pursuing a strategy—with lots of help from its so-called friends in the Diaspora—that is placing its long-term future at risk. "

Like any machination, Dr M's co author of the "Israel Lobby" unleased a bit @ Foreign Policy that disses Little Satan's battlefield bona fides since the day She was born. Dr Steven Walt's deconstruction of the myth of Little Satan's superiority kinda sorta makes a left handed case for divine intervention as a raison de guerre.

These conclusions - that Little Satan gained almost nothing militarily: HAMAS continues to rule the Strip and retains military capabilities and the loyalty of Palestinians, and the semi independent minor death cult fanboys like Islamic Jihad will fire off more rockets anytime they desire.

The tiny tiny tactical success Little Satan enjoyed in sticking it to HAMAS are far outweighed by a heavy price Little Satan paid diplomatically.

Short version is that the slideshow to HAMAS' promise to turn the Strip into a graveyard sent pics and vids as daily rations of Palestine's self inflicted misery and torment - the soaring death rate drew widespread condemnation throughout the world and alienated Little Satan's few friends in the mohammedist world, most notably Turkey.

This is totally incorrect.

"Israel taught Hamas that no one but the Arab street really cares about the plight of Gaza under Hamas rule and, though noisy, the Arab street doesn't matter. No other country attacked Israel. Jordan maintained diplomatic relations. Iran fulminated but did nothing. Egypt, which once openly tolerated the tunnels, will no doubt clamp down hard on Hamas's smuggling.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was especially shrill in condemning Israel, but the $141-million Christmas deal between Israeli firms and the Turkish air force to upgrade Turkey's F-4 Phantoms remains intact."

"Israel also taught Hamas that the streets of Europe may be crowded with pro-Hamas demonstrators for a few days or a few weeks, but that European countries, the United States and even Russia and China have no love for Hamas and view it, rightly, as Iran's proxy. And that is not likely to change."

Tactically -

"Analysts may claim that the core of Hamas's military capability has survived in the bunkers and tunnels of Gaza City.

Possibly.

But the military initiative is now Israel's. The Israel Defence Forces set the agenda, drove the fight, kept the enemy on its heels, destroyed significant enemy capability (including many of the smuggling tunnels) and showed Hamas that IDF soldiers are now highly skilled in urban insurgent war.

Israel now has the military initiative in the south and will set the terms. It is no longer merely Hamas's antagonist; it is its unquestioned military superior.

The lesson will not be lost on Iran or Hezbollah.

Strategically, the "situation on the ground" has clearly changed. But the Gaza fight was not just a military demonstration — it had political objectives as well.

Israel taught Hamas that future provocation will be painfully costly. It also taught Hamas in Gaza that it is very easy for its titular leader, Khaled Meshaal, and his entourage in Damascus to call for a fight to the last breath against the Zionists. After all, he is protected by Syria. But he has clearly lost touch with the reality of Gaza.

Signs of a split are obvious. Hamas in Gaza is certainly not about to sign a peace treaty with Israel, but if the crossings are open and foreign aid is on its way, the split will most assuredly widen. If both Israel and Hamas can agree to a long-term, monitored truce, Mr. Meshaal will lose all relevancy."

It is, of course, tragic that hundreds of innocent Palestinians were killed and it is hard to understand how HAMAS didn't see this coming.

" Maybe HAMAS doesn't really care about Gazans, either."

Art - "Little Satan got claws!"