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Who Won the Gaza War?

(Weekly Standard) Elliott Abrams - A good measure of who won the Gaza war is who achieved their war aims. Israel's key goal was to restore quiet, and that is what this cease-fire deal does. Hamas ultimately accepted an Egyptian-brokered deal that differs little from one proffered on the battle's seventh day. The second reason to give this round to Israel is the damage that appears to have been done to Hamas. Hamas rocket fire was largely blunted by Israel's Iron Dome defense system, and Hamas' great secret weapon, the attack tunnels into Israel, have been destroyed. Perhaps a thousand Hamas soldiers were killed, perhaps more, among them several key leaders. A third reason to believe that Israel won the war is the focus now on how Hamas turned Gaza into a war machine. Hamas' use of mosques, schools, hotels, and hospitals to shelter its leaders, shoot rockets, and store war materiel has been vastly downplayed in the international press - but has not been absent. For now, it's clear that Hamas achieved nothing of value in this war while imposing a huge cost on Gaza. The writer is a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.
2014-09-02 00:00:00
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