Strategy Page notes:
During the May bombing campaign it became obvious that Hamas military construction efforts in Gaza since 2014 were made possible by diverting most of the reconstruction aid to building new tunnels, bunkers and other military fortifications. That meant the materials donated for rebuilding housing and infrastructure had no impact on the sorry state of housing and infrastructure in Gaza.Despite the stated aims of Hamas, or maybe because of them, lots of people on the left in the U.S. are openly hostile toward the Israelis for defending themselves. The left, folks like Ilhan Omar and other members of "The Squad," is affronted that Israel refuses to acquiesce in its own destruction.
This is one of the reasons Gazans blame (quietly, among themselves) Hamas more than Israel for the current damage and support the construction supervision demands of Israel and Egypt.
Hamas continues to insist its primary purpose is to destroy Israel and rebuilding tunnels and bunkers is part of that. Egypt is losing patience with Hamas but wants to maintain its ability to mediate deals with Hamas.
This is in spite of Hamas openly allying itself with Iran, an archenemy of Egypt and openly calling for the replacement of the current Egyptian government with one more accommodating to the needs of Islamic terrorists and Iran.
Six days after hostilities began, New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called Israel an apartheid state, capping off a week of bold statements from progressives including Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar, Cori Bush, and Betty McCollum, who reintroduced a bill restricting Israel’s use of military aid in April.
House progressives and Senator Bernie Sanders also offered resolutions opposing the sale of $735 million in American weapons to Israel.
Omar tweeted on Monday that: "Israeli air strikes killing civilians in Gaza is an act of terrorism. Palestinians deserve protection. Unlike Israel, missile defense programs, such as Iron Dome, don’t exist to protect Palestinian civilians. It’s unconscionable to not condemn these attacks on the week of Eid."
Evidently, in Omar's muddled thinking, self-defense constitutes terrorism and should be condemned. The article at Strategy Page also had this:
[During the 11-day war with Hamas in Gaza] the Hamas surprise rocket attacks were much less effective than during the 51-day war in 2014. Although Hamas fired over three times as many rockets in 2021 Israeli casualties and losses were much less than in 2014. Hamas losses were higher, especially in terms of tunnels and bunkers located and destroyed, often only after Hamas gunmen or leaders were detected taking shelter in them.One sympathizes with the Palestinian people who groan under the brutal oppression of Hamas and suffer as a result of the security measures Israel is forced to take because of the ceaseless machinations of its implacable enemy in Gaza. Nevertheless, to fault Israel for trying to eliminate those who are trying to kill them and their children is ludicrous.
Over the last decade Israel has developed software that performs much more effectively at analyzing aerial digital photos along with data obtained from more abundant and powerful electronic sensors. The use of digital photos made it possible to use software systems to look for threats and even their patterns of operation.
These new technologies made Israeli target detection and target attacks much faster and effective than in the past. The 2021 war demonstrated new Israeli fire control and civil-defense systems as well as new anti-aircraft and missile systems. There were new ELINT (Electronic Intelligence) systems that were only mentioned in passing, without any details.
