By Ian ParmeterIn hindsight, the drivers of Hamas’s startlingly well-planned, land-sea-air attack on Israel on Saturday were in plain sight. The operation reflects a pattern of four wars and regular outbreaks of violence between Israel and Hamas militants in Gaza since 2005, when Israel withdrew its military posts and forcibly removed 9,000 Israeli settlers from the territory. Each time Hamas has launched rockets at Israel or engaged in similar provocations, it has drawn heavy retaliation from Israel in the form of major bombings on the Gaza Strip. Hamas does not recognize Israel, but has said it would observe a truce if Israel withdrew to its 1967 borders. The significance of a Palestinian entity being able to surprise Israel in the same way would not be lost on Hamas.

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Persons: Ian Parmeter, Hamas’s, Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, Den, Mahmoud Abbas, Den ”, Itamar Ben, Ariel Sharon, Jordan, Abraham, Netanyahu, Joe Biden Organizations: Saturday, West Bank, “ Lions, Palestinian Authority, Lions, Hamas, United Arab, Israel, ’, Gaza, Research, Islamic Studies, Australian National University Locations: Israel, Gaza, Al, Aqsa, Islam, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Israel’s, Iran, Tehran