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Israel and Hamas
(Center for Strategic and International Studies) Anthony H. Cordesman - Since 2005, the initial cause of each round of fighting has been repeated attempts by Hamas to change the strategic facts on the ground. In each round, Israel's decisive military edge has left Hamas weaker than before and failed to have any meaningful political impact that benefited Hamas. Each time, Hamas has recovered its ability to pose a threat while it has improved its tunneling efforts and capability to use rockets, missiles and mortars to strike into Israeli territory - although without any meaningful strategic benefits to Hamas. When one looks at the cost to Palestinian civilians of Hamas' actions, it is impossible to respect any aspect of Hamas' intentions and strategy. There is something inherently horrifying in using a population as a weapon.