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As It Planned for Oct. 7, Hamas Lulled Israel into a False Sense of Calm

(Washington Post) Shira Rubin - Hamas spent more than a year planning its assault on Israel, Israeli intelligence officers said this week. Yet for years, in public statements and private diplomacy, Hamas had claimed that it was more interested in building Gaza economically than in renewing a conflict with Israel. Hamas had largely refrained from firing rockets at Israel after 2021. In May 2023, Hamas remained on the sidelines as Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) engaged in a short-lived conflict with Israel. Hamas officials even provided Israel with intelligence on the PIJ to reinforce the impression that they were interested in collaboration, an Israeli security official said. In recent months, large demonstrations were staged at the Gaza border fence to get the IDF used to crowds at the border, and "to lull Israel into complacency," said Miri Eisin, a former senior IDF intelligence officer. Eisin said that Israel and many of its allies were more concerned with Hizbullah in the north, that in 2018 declared plans to conquer the Galilee region.
2023-12-07 00:00:00
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