RICHARD FERNANDEZ: The Amorite Iniquity Effect. “The big build-up of Gaza as an impregnable Hamas tunnel fortress has turned, in a comparatively short time, into the saga of a martyr city, soon to be a displaced person’s camp, the West’s wards. Leaving politics and ethics aside, the military collapse suggests Hamas soldiers have been poorly served by their leadership. Gaza was designed as a terror base, not for the conventional war Hamas got itself and the whole strip into. It was never configured and could not conceivably have resisted the IDF. Their survival plan depended on Israel reacting as they anticipated, and not as it could. Hamas’ high command was so sure they could predict Israel’s intentions that they just plumb ignored its capabilities.”

To be fair, that’s a pretty common defect among people who start wars they can’t finish.