Gaza War 1: Strategic and Historical Perspective -- 12 October 2023

Sets the 2023 war between Israel and Hamas in the broader perspective of the Israeli-Palestinian struggle and the crucial difference between Jewish & Palestinian Nationalism: The Jews put building a state ahead of else, while the Palestinians have always wanted something more than they wanted an independent State of Palestine.

Back in the '90's I discussed the possibility of such attacks with my then colleague Gil Merom. His view was that of course the Palestinians could concentrate more force at _chosen_ points of attack than the IDF could concentrate at _all_ possible points of attack, Thus, Dr. Merom said, the only way to stop such attacks was _deterrence_.
Deterrence has, obviously, been lost. It will be restored, if at all, by the same method of reprisal (פעולות תגמול) that has succesfully deterred such attacks for decades from territory controlled by Egypt, Jordan, and Syria -- and for that matter from territory controlled by Hezbollah.