The battlefield of Gaza is unequal.
The IDF is stronger, better equipped, and well-trained. And yet Hamas has the advantage.
They have knowledge of the terrain that we do not. They know where the openings to their terror tunnels are, where there are weapons caches, and what is booby-trapped. And from what we are hearing, it seems like everything is booby-trapped.
Their most powerful weapon against us is psychological. They know, and have said it for years, that whereas we Israelis love life, they love death. They see this as a weakness and use it against us.
That’s why they took so many hostages – women, children, young people, and even babies.
That’s why they are now inventing diabolical methods to use our love of life and decency against us.
They booby-trapped dolls that played recordings in Hebrew – hoping to lure soldiers to them and then explode.
Several reports have been made about terrorists found outside obvious, relevant targets – but with children in their arms. They know the IAF won’t strike children.
They are sending women and seemingly unarmed men toward our troops – people who look like innocent civilians but are actually suicide bombers. Soldiers should allow unarmed people to come close right? If they let these people come close, they would all die together.
They know to pretend to surrender, use white flags, and even shout in Hebrew to lure our troops into traps. They cannot win in a fair fight but by tricks, using our compassion against us, they have a chance.
And every mistake the IDF makes, every soldier killed, every hostage we do not succeed in saving, hurts the entire Nation of Israel.
And this too is a victory for Hamas.
They are not looking for a victory against our soldiers. They are looking to vanquish our People. To exterminate us all. Weakening Israel, breaking our spirit, is more important than killing some of our soldiers.
And therein lies the biggest inequality in this war – the question of what victory looks like.
For Israel, it is necessary to ensure that the Hamas massacre can never happen again. That includes Hamas in Gaza, Hamas in Judea and Samaria, and Hezbollah in the north.
The People of Israel need to know that they can sleep peacefully in their beds at night. Not for just a while, not until the next round. Always.
Hamas planned to attack Israel, rape, torture, burn, slaughter and loot. They bragged about it. They even made a TVtv series about it. They did it. And they promised to do it again and again until there is no more Israel. They didn’t just kill, they humiliated and dishonored women and girls and the men who could not save them. They defiled the sanctity of our homes and even the bodies of our dead. They did this methodically to send a message that there is no safety anywhere. They wanted to make it clear that they were bringing the Holocaust to Israel.
What would it take for you to sleep peacefully after that?
For Hamas victory is much easier to achieve. All they have to do is survive. It doesn’t matter what condition Gaza is in, that is a problem for the UN to deal with. It doesn’t matter how many Gazans die or suffer. Their goal is not freedom or comfortable living. Their goal isn’t individual, it’s collective – and it isn’t even about them, it’s about us.
Their goal is Israel’s destruction. If they succeed in executing the October 7th massacre and live to tell the tale, they win. Moreover, this will provide inspiration for others to follow in their footsteps, fuelling further attacks on Israel and Jews all over the world.
Israel’s national anthem speaks of 2000 years of hope to be a free nation, in Israel and Jerusalem. We have regained our ancestral homeland but have not yet fulfilled this hope. What does it mean to be free in your land? Sovereignty is defined by simple things. When you close the door and go to sleep are you safe or not? Will you be criticized and sanctioned for defending your life and the lives of your loved ones or not? Is it necessary for someone bigger than you to tell others that you are allowed to defend yourself?
This war is not “another round”. This is our War of Independence.This is when Israel succeeds in attaining sovereignty or not.
The task before us is impossible. The odds against us are terrible. The only thing that gives me hope is our history. The Nation of Israel has faced impossible odds and won. Repeatedly. That means there is hope that we can do it again.
{Reposted from the author’s blog}
