Sources: Hamas focusing on terror attacks from West Bank after high casualties in Gaza war
Hamas has changed its strategy as a result of heavy losses during Operation Protective Edge, 'Al-Hayat' quotes sources in Gaza as saying.
By JPOST.COM STAFFUpdated: AUGUST 4, 2015 12:39Gazans celebrate the 27th anniversary of Hamas' founding(photo credit: REUTERS)
Hamas will not return to open war with Israel until it obtains anti-aircraft missiles to prevent IAF attacks on its positions, London-based, Arabic-language daily Al Hayat quoted sources in Gaza as saying on Tuesday.According to the sources, Hamas learned during last summer's Operation Protective Edge that the cost of engaging in direct confrontation with the IDF was not worth it, and that it will instead focus on carrying out terror attacks originating in the West Bank.The decision came, according to Al Hayat's sources, after Hamas realized that, during the summer 2014 war, IAF strikes targeting members of the group's military wing in population centers were leading to large number of civilian casualties."Israel did not hesitate to bombard and kill all the family members who were in the surroundings of members of the military wings," a source said.The sources added that when Hamas realized in the last days of the war that Israel was continuing its aerial bombardments around the clock, leading to the deaths of dozens of Palestinians every day, they agreed to a cease-fire without any conditions.Hamas is not abandoning military action against Israel, the source said, but has taken a strategic decision to suspend seeking an open war against the Jewish state for now.By attacking Israel with terror attacks from the West Bank, the IDF responds only in a localized nature against specific targets, unlike the comprehensive Israeli response in Gaza, the source said.
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