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The delusion of Hamas' military wing

Unlike Hamas’ political wing, its military wing is convinced that a group of suicide bombers can "overpower Israel."
A Palestinian member of the Al-Qassam brigades, the armed wing of the Hamas movement, gives a speech during a rally marking the 25th anniversary of the founding of Hamas, in Gaza City December 8, 2012. Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal, in an uncompromising speech during his first ever visit to Gaza after decades of exile, told a mass rally on Saturday he would never recognise Israel and pledged to "free the land of Palestine inch by inch". REUTERS/Ahmed Jadallah (GAZA - Tags: POLITICS ANNIVERSARY CIVIL UNREST) -
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Nine years ago, in the course of my journalistic work in the northern Gaza Strip, my photographer, a Gaza resident, Majdi Arbid, was injured by Israel Defense Forces (IDF) fire. Arbid was transferred by ambulance in very grave condition to Soroka Hospital in Beersheba, where his life was saved. After several weeks, when his condition improved, I got authorization from the Israeli Civil Administration to give him a tour of Tel Aviv before he returned to his home in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood.

On the Ayalon Highway, the highway leading to the big city, he first laid eyes upon the tall buildings, Tel Aviv’s towers, the branching road system, the bridges, the lights, the life. It was all so different from Gaza, which seemed light years away to him. On the way, we passed the sites Hamas terrorists struck some years before: the Dizengoff commercial center, the Dolphinarium night club, Mike’s Place bar and others. When the astonishment faded from his face, he summarized it thus: "Hamas militants are living in a delusion; they are convinced that with a group of suicide bombers (shahids, meaning martyrs) they could overpower Israel."

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