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Source: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24918064-15084,00.html
Hamas in Tactical Rethink
[The Australian] Abraham Rabinovich - The battle in Gaza is the first time Hamas has engaged the Israel Defense Forces in large-scale combat as an organized military force. Hamas hoped to humble the IDF by employing unconventional, quasi-guerilla tactics in densely built-up areas a conventional army would have difficulty dealing with. In ten days of ground combat, however, Hamas offered only sporadic resistance, melting away before the Israeli advance while suffering heavy casualties and inflicting few. Even before the war started, Israelis knew it would end with Hamas declaring victory regardless of what happened on the battlefield. A parting salvo of rockets as the cease-fire went into effect would constitute a victory salute while the inevitable withdrawal of the IDF from Gaza would be offered as proof that Hamas had endured and won, regardless of the fact Gaza lay in ruins and more than 1,000 of its residents were dead. This week, Hamas leaders signaled from their basement hideouts in Gaza that they could no longer hold out.