On the morning of Aug. 5, just five minutes before the cease-fire in the Gaza Strip was scheduled to begin, Hamas fired a heavy barrage of rockets at Israeli cities. An Indian television crew from NDTV documented from its hotel window how Hamas militants set up a launcher in the heart of a residential area with hotels, and the moments immediately after the rocket was fired. The reporter, Sreenivasan Jain, noted that the footage was only released after the crew left the Gaza Strip out of fear of Hamas' response.

Soon after the rockets were fired and the cease-fire went into effect, Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri emerged out of his tunnel to deliver his triumphant announcement: “The most obvious result of the campaign [in Gaza] was the destruction of Israeli deterrence.” It is safe to assume that Abu Zuhri and the other leaders and commanders of Hamas, who have spent the past month hiding in bunkers, haven’t yet had a chance to look hundreds of thousands of Gaza residents squarely in the eye. Once they get used to the sunlight again, they should conduct a lengthy tour of the Gaza Strip. While out and about they can ask themselves — and all the local residents displaced from their homes — whether it was worth it.

Let’s say this: If the last barrage of rockets and Abu Zuhri’s statement are indicative of how Hamas anticipates the future of Israel’s power of deterrence, this is yet another fabulous chapter in the history of the Middle East’s fertile imagination. The last barrage was a PR stunt intended to show that Hamas hadn’t surrendered, even though everybody knows it did and that it actually pleaded for an immediate cease-fire. Firing rockets just five minutes before the cease-fire isn’t some sign of bravery; it is simply evidence of how terrified Hamas is of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). It’s more like a little boy who can see his father approaching. He curses out the neighborhood bully and then goes running into his father’s arms.

Let’s take a look at the facts. Hamas is a terrorist organization that enslaved itself to a culture of death and keeps bringing endless suffering, disasters and tragedies on its people in many macabre ways. Yes, its target is Israel and its people, but a statistical analysis will show unequivocally that the people hurt most by its actions are the people of Gaza. Hamas wanted to attack Israel’s towns with rockets, assault tunnels and mortars, but the actual results on the ground were catastrophic, as far as it was concerned. It cannot claim any achievements. Its fighters were defeated in battle. According to IDF figures, some 900 Hamas fighters were killed. The sick desire to trade in the body of a captive soldier fell apart when faced with a change in attitude among the Israeli public. Israel will not pay an exorbitant price for the body of a dead soldier. The Iron Dome defense system turned Hamas’ rockets into a joke. It took blood, sweat, tears and millions of dollars to build dozens of terrorist tunnels, only to have them destroyed.