Daily Telegraph reporter Raf Sanchez was in Gaza following the recent hostilities, and shared his observations on Twitter. They are a must-read for anyone wanting to really understand what is going on.
Here are the main takeaways:
Despite targets in Gaza being hit, Hamas are happy
Hamas are buoyant about how this went down. News of Lieberman’s resignation is being blasted from all media channels as a sign of victory. Their leaders are going in front of bomb sites to do TV interviews etc.
— Raf Sanchez (@rafsanchez) November 15, 2018
This should tell you a lot about just how much they truly care about their people.
Gazans on the street support rocket attacks against Israeli civilians
People we spoke to were a) relieved there wasn’t a war b) basically supportive of Hamas and other factions’ decision to shoot rockets. They saw it as a legitimate response to the Israeli commando raid and felt pride that the factions fought Israel to a ceasefire.
— Raf Sanchez (@rafsanchez) November 15, 2018
Of course, I am sure there are those who were not, but this is telling nonetheless. All those years of incitement have definitely made their mark.
Despite their bravado, Hamas are sh*tting themselves
Hamas are super paranoid after the Israeli commando raid and are looking for collaborators. We went through lots of new checkpoints. There was much more scrutiny of foreign journalists and they searched our bags on the way out.
— Raf Sanchez (@rafsanchez) November 15, 2018
What, checkpoints?! The inhumanity!
Israel goes to great lengths to avoid civilian casualties
This is stunning.
We got a sense of how careful Israel was to avoid civilian casualties during the airstrikes in #Gaza. The Israeli army called one guy we met and spent 45 mins on the phone with him, getting him to evacuate his neighbours, before they blew up a Hamas media building next to his.
— Raf Sanchez (@rafsanchez) November 15, 2018
We know this to be true but did we realize the extent? It is also great for a reporter to acknowledge the lengths we go to.
Gazans: Wot Me Worry?
People seemed basically unconcerned that the fighting was going to set back progress of last few weeks (electricity, Qatari $, talk of a deal). I can’t really explain why they weren’t more worried, aside from they felt the rockets were legitimate.
— Raf Sanchez (@rafsanchez) November 15, 2018
This seems indicative of the mentality we see with many palestinians, who are overjoyed to see Jews suffer, even if it means it will lead to increased suffering for themselves.
Hamas leaders don’t really care they killed a palestinian Arab in Israel
And it was the Jooooos fault.
We asked a senior Hamas leader, Ismael Radwan, about the Palestinian man from Hebron killed in Ashkelon. He went down a conspiracy rabbit hole, saying maybe the apartment building was a military site and Israel had put him there deliberately.
— Raf Sanchez (@rafsanchez) November 15, 2018
Talk about projection!