Richard Haass: In Hamas’ View, Seeing the Pushback on Israel Means They Are ‘Winning Politically’

EXCERPT:

HAASS: “When the Israelis pull out, Hamas or Hamas-like elements re-enter. So I don’t think the Israeli strategy makes sense. It is almost as if they’re fighting a conventional war in an unconventional setting. There’s no allowance for hearts and minds and how this is playing out. Hamas knows that. That’s one of the reasons they’re embedding their forces in a civilian population. They’re willing to take the casualties because they feel — they watch what’s going on, they see the protests in Israel, they see the pushback in the United States and around the world. From their point of view, they may be losing militarily, but they’re winning politically. That is the flaw in the Israeli strategy. They’re fighting the war conventionally, but it is an unconventional war. So they can’t — there is no answer to your question. There's no answer to your question of, even if you went into Rafah, what happens the day after? How do you translate the killing of some Hamas troops into a lasting political arrangement? The answer is you can't, because Israel hasn't introduced a political dimension into their strategy."