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Hamas Is Proud of Its "Achievements" but Hasn't Convinced the Gazans Who Pay the Price
(Ha'aretz) Amira Hass - Hamas has just published an assessment of its Oct. 7 attack and the aftermath. Yet the people of Gaza can't be partners to the picture of achievements and resilience described in the document released Wednesday. In conversations with friends and family, even loyal Hamas supporters in the enclave have questions about the attack and the considerations behind it. They aren't getting answers. One Gazan wrote that the text shows "disdain for their blood and suffering...a blatant ignoring of reality, an attempt to convince people that the biggest tragedy in the modern history of Palestine and Gaza was a 'national necessity' and a historic achievement." A woman who left Gaza at the beginning of the war read Hamas's document and concludes that "these people will never admit their fatal mistakes and will never feel the suffering and tragedies of our people, since they are insensitive and have no conscience." These two writers were never supporters of the rival organization, Fatah, and cannot be suspected of being pro-Israel. But they are also among the not-so-few people in Gaza demanding that Hamas take some responsibility and not just bask on its self-congratulatory laurels for the "glorious crossing" of the border. Continuing the long tradition of exaggerating the number of dead Israelis in military clashes with Hamas, Hamas claims that 5,942 Israeli soldiers were killed in Gaza. Overall, they claim that Israel suffered 13,000 fatalities on all fronts (Lebanon, the West Bank and Gaza).