8-25-201 Mowing the Grass and Taking Out the Trash Israel doesn't want to wipe out Hamas, and putting it in a corner will only backfire - DANIEL BYMAN Foreign Policy

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2014/08/25/mowing_the_grass_and_taking_out_the_trash_hamas_israel_gaza

 

[Both sides are divided]

…rival groups are constantly baying at Hamas's heels: Palestinian Islamic Jihad and militants in Gaza with an ideology closer to al Qaeda than Hamas criticize any break in the fighting as a sign that Hamas has given up on freeing Palestine. At times, rival groups have launched attacks on Israel in spite of Hamas's orders, and at other times Hamas has looked the other way while they acted.

There is one ironic danger of Israel's war against Hamas -- for deterrence to work, you don't want your enemy to become too weak…

 

A weaker Hamas makes rogue attacks more likely, and disarming Hamas, which Israeli leaders have at times called for, would risk Gaza being controlled by even more extreme groups…

 

…After the latest destructive round of violence, Gaza is back on the world agenda, and moderate Palestinians are embracing Hamas's position on ending the blockade…

 

Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

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