Israel Invasion too Complex for Hamas, Iran and Russia Assisted

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The attack on Israel began with a coordinated breach of the Gaza border fence at multiple locations accompanied by the firing of thousands of rockets

into southern Israel, allowing squads of terrorists to penetrate into Israel and attack numerous communities and cities in southern Israel in the early morning. Israel was caught completely off-guard by the assault, representing a massive intelligence failure. From a military intelligence official, “I have no doubt that questions about this intelligence failure are being addressed now in the Israeli government,” Col. (REDACTED) said of the failure to predict and stop the deadly Hamas onslaught. “I am sure there will be a full inquiry when the current situation is stabilized. Until then we can only speculate. This attack has been called Israel’s 9/11 by some people, or Israel’s Pearl Harbor, both of which were also accompanied by tragic intelligence failure.”

Iran and Russia were behind the attack which was “too complex for Gaza terrorists to pull off on their own.” Growing evidence points to Iran being instrumental in this Hamas attack, in that, Biden’s total inept withdraw from Afghanistan in 2021, and the leaving of millions of dollars in weapons and munitions easily were transferred to Hamas. Furthermore, grave concern exists over the weapons provided by the U.S. to Ukraine finding their way into Middle Eastern hands against Israel, and this includes Iran. Evidence further exists demonstrating the Taliban had secured sophisticated U.S. weapons and equipment including Black Hawk helicopters. Biden further unfroze $6 Billion of Iran which is strongly suggested being redirected to Hamas.

The United States is working quickly to dispel any statements that suggest America did not exercise control and accountability over the dispersal of arms and munitions provided to Ukraine. Emerging facts on the ground are beginning to tell a different story. The unfolding sophisticated invasion on Israel by Hamas strongly suggests that the U.S. could have inadvertently armed the terrorist organization, and if borne-out, will further prove the hasty and poorly planned withdraw from Afghanistan by the United States was sorely botched by Biden and his entire national security team, including the former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Gen. Milley.

The specific date for this invasion was chosen by the Palestinian terrorists to take advantage of the Israeli holiday period, very much like the Yom Kippur War that began around the same time in 1973. But the strategic context is threefold. First, Iran’s hand was behind this attack. They fund, arm, and direct Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Iran is dedicated to the annihilation of the Jewish State as their leaders have repeated again and again. Second, Moscow and Tehran are close allies who have cooperated over the mass murder of civilians in the Ukraine war, for which Iran has supplied killer drones. Leaders of Islamic Jihad and Hamas have visited Moscow in the last few months meeting senior Russian government officials. Russia’s motivation here is to foment instability in the Middle East to distract US political bandwidth as well as resources away from Ukraine. Third, in their pursuit of chaos and Iranian hegemony in the Middle East, both Russia and Iran want to disrupt the normalization negotiations between Saudi Arabia and Israel.

How Israel should respond to such a brazen and deadly attack is a sobering question. The laws of war on proportionality have no bearing on strategic objectives, only on the conduct of operations where civilian life might be endangered. Israel is well known for its proportionate use of force in defense of its citizens despite the propaganda campaign that suggests otherwise. This attack may very well change Israel’s strategic calculus, as it will have to inflict unprecedented damage on Hamas’s and Islamic Jihad’s leadership. That may mean a ground operation into Gaza that leads to a long or medium-term military presence on the ground. The immediate goal will be to destroy Hamas and Islamic Jihad as viable terrorist bodies. Regarding the reported growing number of hostages, this is perhaps the most difficult challenge Israel faces. Rescuing large numbers of people no doubt dispersed in secure

locations around Gaza may well be impossible. The Israeli government, intelligence, and IDF will make every conceivable effort to do so. Perhaps the best hope would be international pressure on the terrorists but these hostages are a prize they will be most unwilling to give up; this could very well include American tourists in the area.

The West must recognize Iran’s and Russia’s hand in this. The US in particular should stop appeasing Iran. Western governments should treat Hamas and Islamic Jihad as their enemies and support Israel in its efforts to destroy them as well as applying their own punitive action against them. Western leaders should speak loudly in support of Israeli military defensive action now and for the long term, working to counter the anti-Israel narrative that will be boosted by Israel’s necessary actions to defend its population.

©2023. Lyle J. Rapacki, Ph.D. All rights reserved.

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