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Hamas built a mock Israeli town in Gaza and practiced its attack in plain sight — but Israel didn't react, report says

www.businessinsider.com Hamas built a mock Israeli town in Gaza and practiced its attack in plain sight — but Israel didn't react, report says

Leading up to the attack, Hamas fighters were being trained and drilled — often in plain sight, Reuters reported.

Hamas built a mock Israeli town in Gaza and practiced its attack in plain sight — but Israel didn't react, report says
  • Hamas duped Israel into thinking it cared more about economic stability than a war, Reuters said.

  • Meanwhile, it was practicing for an attack in plain sight, the report said.

  • Hamas trained its fighters on a mock Israeli settlement, learning how to storm it, Reuters added.

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The Palestinian militant group Hamas built a mock Israeli town in Gaza and practiced attacking in plain sight — but Israel didn't react, Reuters reported on Sunday.

Hamas militants launched a surprise offensive on Israel on Saturday, in what has been described as the worst breach in Israel's defenses in decades.

The attack followed a careful campaign of deception by Hamas that ensured Israel was caught off guard over the weekend, an unnamed source, with connections to the group, told Reuters.

Despite convincing Israel that they had no interest in war, Hamas militants were practicing for the offensive in plain sight by setting up a mock Israeli settlement in Gaza to train its fighters.

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  • This just further raises questions on whether Netanyahu was actually unaware or if this attack was allowed to happen to provide cover for his corruption charges.

    With so many different blatantly apparent elements and the well known past efforts by the IDF and Israeli intelligence to prevent things like this, such a massive buildup toward the attack in plain sight seems impossible to have been missed.

    • Turn the tinfoil hatting down by about ten notches.

      Drills and the like are happening all the time. Hell, back when I used to live near one of the juicier US bases, I could literally see them building up and tearing down kill houses/training structures on the regular. Asked a few on business meetings and it was very much a mix of training and preparation/drilling.

      Arguments like this suggest israel should have bombed them even harder. And the news media would likely report that as blowing up people building sheds or new housing. And, knowing israel, that is what it would devolve into.

      • Deliberately fiddling with the dial on Palestinian tension for political reasons is like Netanyahu's go to move. I admit I would be a bit surprised if it turns out he green lit this. It's a lot of Israeli lives and at this scale it looks a lot like incompetence, which is probably not ideal.

        But it's totally reasonable to discuss the question.

        • No, it is not "totally reasonable to discuss the question". That is the basis for conspiracy theories and is why the world is so massively full of FUD and misinformation.

          Because you have taken "Failing of intelligence" and turning it into the kind of conspiracy theory that makes people assume only idiots would question this because... yeah

          • What a genuinely stupid take. There is absolutely no question that governments have ignored intelligence, or allowed attacks to occur in order to bolster support for military engagements from the general public.

            Seriously, how naive do you have to be to suggest that is a conspiracy theory or misinformation? We know the Bush administration ignored warnings from the CIA of impending attacks by Al Qaeda prior to 9/11. Whether you chalk that up to malice or incompetence is ultimately irrelevant when it led to a quagmire that has shaped decades of US foreign policy and military action.

            If you don't think it is even worth discussing if far right crypto-fascist authoritarian like Benjamin Netanyahu is willing and able to let his own people die because the means justify the ends then you are not a serious interlocutor.

          • There will be conspiracy theories whether there is anything to base them on or not.

            It's definitely reasonable to discuss whether Netanyahu was involved in something that benefits him and he is known for. As I said, at the moment it looks unlikely to me that he was. But come on! He has motive, means, priors and it's great timing for him personally. Acknowledging that all that is true doesn't mean agreeing to a vast web of conspiracy. All that is true but it it can still be a legit intelligence failure.

            • I would not at all be surprised if the israeli government allowed this to happen.

              But there is no evidence beyond "they did not act on questionable intel". And the sooner we enter full conspiracy theory mode, the less credence there is TO (more) nefarious actions coming to light later. US-centric, but I know plenty of people who consider "The Bush Administration lied about evidence of WMDs" to be on the same level as "jet fuel doesn't melt steel beams" in terms of "conspiracy theories"

              And all we do by entertaining conspiracy theories is erode the concept of truth.

              The question is not "so was this a false flag action and all the festival goers were crisis actors?". It is "why did israel not act on this intelligence. What made them think it was not valid"

              • No, it is not "totally reasonable to discuss the question". That is the basis for conspiracy theories and is why the world is so massively full of FUD and misinformation.

                I would not at all be surprised if the israeli government allowed this to happen.

                Uhhh, okay well which is it then? One second you say it is totally unreasonable to question, and the next you are actively agreeing that you would not be surprised if the government had allowed this to happen. I'm sure even you can see the hypocrisy in that.

                But there is no evidence beyond "they did not act on questionable intel".

                I don't recall ever suggesting that there was, nor did the OP of this chain.

                The sooner we enter full conspiracy theory mode, the less credence there is TO (more) nefarious actions coming to light later.

                I'm willing to give you a pass on this point because I think this is probably true. However, let's not also act like the government doesn't intentionally muddy the waters and paint anything that is counter to their chosen narrative as conspiracy theories anyway...

                And all we do by entertaining conspiracy theories is erode the concept of truth.

                That is entirely the point isn't it? The government & intelligence community are fully aware of this phenomenon, and use it to their advantage as one of their main tactics to either squash or foment dissent depending on their objectives.

                The truth has already been eroded to such a degree that whoever controls the largest & fastest means of information dissemination is able to control the narrative. It takes people who are willing to entertain other perspectives to weed through the bullshit in order to eventually land at something that more closely APPROXIMATES the truth.

                The question is not "so was this a false flag action and all the festival goers were crisis actors?". It is "why did israel not act on this intelligence. What made them think it was not valid"

                Wow, this is such a laughable conflation that I don't even know what to say about it really. Yes, there are morons who think that way, but I don't think anybody in this discussion is one of them as far as I can't tell. So, let's stick to higher level discourse that can be potentially productive.

              • No, it is not “totally reasonable to discuss the question”

                I would not at all be surprised if the israeli government allowed this to happen.

                Are you familiar with the old robot saying, "does not compute"?

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