by Trevor » Fri Aug 01, 2014 12:09 am
I would add a couple of things to that list, chiefly what the response of Israel's neighbors will be. I highly doubt Hamas' supporters are going to let them be completely eradicated; certainly Iran and Qatar aren't going to let that happen. The second is the possibility that Palestinians from the West Bank will join in the fight, which would make things worse. So far, they've had riots, protests, and a few deaths, but if this continues, that could change. Abbas is almost 80 years old and is becoming increasingly irrelevant.
The third possible complication is Hezbollah, which is much better armed and trained than Hamas is. True, they've got a lot of their resources tied up in Assad's war, but they have many members and if Hamas is on the verge of destruction, Iran could push them to join in the fight.
I've read analysis from multiple sources and most of them say that to truly destroy all of Hamas' war-making capability, it would require months of difficult fighting with heavy casualties, in addition to the difficulty of finding an alternative to Hamas. I'm not sure if Israel is willing to go quite that far yet.
I would add a couple of things to that list, chiefly what the response of Israel's neighbors will be. I highly doubt Hamas' supporters are going to let them be completely eradicated; certainly Iran and Qatar aren't going to let that happen. The second is the possibility that Palestinians from the West Bank will join in the fight, which would make things worse. So far, they've had riots, protests, and a few deaths, but if this continues, that could change. Abbas is almost 80 years old and is becoming increasingly irrelevant.
The third possible complication is Hezbollah, which is much better armed and trained than Hamas is. True, they've got a lot of their resources tied up in Assad's war, but they have many members and if Hamas is on the verge of destruction, Iran could push them to join in the fight.
I've read analysis from multiple sources and most of them say that to truly destroy all of Hamas' war-making capability, it would require months of difficult fighting with heavy casualties, in addition to the difficulty of finding an alternative to Hamas. I'm not sure if Israel is willing to go quite that far yet.