x 3 todayhttps://t.co/HNpRlTxrPp

— MenchOsint (@MenchOsint) May 22, 2024

The way the Western media functions is super bizarre. Basically, we have all of these different sources of information now – social media and foreign media – but Western society acts like something isn’t true until there is a big report from a legacy media outlet.

We’ve been reporting that Hamas still exists and hasn’t really been deterred at all by Israel, despite the fact that Israel has destroyed most residential buildings in northern Gaza. We’ve been reporting that Hamas is actually moving back to positions they’d abandoned in northern Gaza – positions that are good for firing rockets into Israel.

This information was all widely available and not any type of secret. But the media wasn’t reporting it widely, so no one was talking about it. Then, this week, the Associated Press prints a big thing about “actually, Hamas is doing pretty well,” and then all of a sudden this is a big story.

AP:

Diminished but not deterred, Hamas is still putting up a fight after seven brutal months of war with Israel, regrouping in some of the hardest-hit areas in northern Gaza and resuming rocket attacks into nearby Israeli communities.

Israel initially made tactical advances against Hamas after a devastating aerial bombardment paved the way for its ground troops. But those early gains have given way to a grinding struggle against an adaptable insurgency — and a growing feeling among many Israelis that their military faces only bad options, drawing comparisons with U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

This was the subtext of a rebellion in recent days by two members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s three-man War Cabinet — Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Benny Gantz, Netanyahu’s main political rival — who demanded that he come up with detailed postwar plans.

They supported Israel’s retaliation for Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, including one of the heaviest bombing campaigns in recent history, ground operations that obliterated entire neighborhoods and border restrictions that the U.N.’s World Food Program says pushed parts of the territory into famine.

It’s not “one of the heaviest bombing campaigns in recent history,” it’s “the single heaviest bombing campaign since World War II.” Gaza is obviously a small area, but inch for inch, it’s worse than the bombings of Dresden or Japan, meaning that it would actually be accurate to call it “the heaviest bombing campaign in all of history.”

But now the two retired generals fear a prolonged, costly re-occupation of Gaza, from which Israel withdrew soldiers and settlers in 2005. They are also opposed to a withdrawal that would leave Hamas in control or lead to the establishment of a Palestinian state.

Instead, they have put forth alternatives that many Israelis see as wildly unrealistic. Hamas, meanwhile, has proposed its own postwar plan.

Here’s a look at four ways this war might end.

FULL-SCALE MILITARY OCCUPATION

Netanyahu has promised a “total victory” that would remove Hamas from power, dismantle its military capabilities and return the scores of hostages it still holds from the attack that triggered the war.

He has said victory could come within weeks if Israel launches a full-scale invasion of Rafah, which Israel portrays as the last Hamas stronghold.

Amir Avivi, a retired Israeli general and former deputy commander of the Gaza division, says that’s only the beginning. He said Israel would need to remain in control to prevent Hamas from regrouping.

…

A LIGHTER OCCUPATION, AIDED BY ‘UNICORNS’

Netanyahu has said Israel will maintain security control over Gaza but delegate civilian administration to local Palestinians unaffiliated with Hamas or the Western-backed Palestinian Authority, which governs parts of the occupied West Bank. He has suggested that Arab and other countries assist with governance and rebuilding.

But so far, none have shown interest.

…

A GRAND BARGAIN

Instead, Arab states have coalesced around a U.S. proposal aimed at resolving the decades-old conflict and transforming the Middle East.

Under this plan, a reformed Palestinian Authority would govern Gaza with the assistance of Arab and Muslim nations, including Saudi Arabia, which would normalize relations with Israel in return for a U.S. defense pact and help in building a civilian nuclear program.

But U.S. and Saudi officials say that hinges on Israel committing to a credible path to eventual Palestinian statehood.

Netanyahu has ruled out such a scenario — as have Gallant and Gantz — saying it would reward Hamas and result in a militant-run state on Israel’s borders.

…

A DEAL WITH HAMAS

Hamas has proposed a very different grand bargain — one that, ironically enough, might be more palatable to Israelis than the U.S.-Saudi deal.

The militant group has proposed a phased agreement in which it would release all of the hostages in return for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners — including senior militants — as well as the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, a lengthy cease-fire and reconstruction.

That would almost certainly leave Hamas in control of Gaza and potentially allow it to rebuild its military capabilities. Hamas might even claim victory, despite the extensive death and destruction suffered by Palestinian civilians since Oct. 7.

But thousands of Israeli protesters have taken to the streets in recent weeks calling on their leaders to take such a deal, because it’s probably the only way to get the hostages back.

They “might even claim victory”? What the hell kind of sentence is that?

Yeah, I think after a full Israeli surrender, Hamas would claim victory. I think, in fact, everyone in the world other than the American media would acknowledge this not only as a victory, but as the single greatest victory of a paramilitary resistance group in all of history.

“Yeah but we killed a lot of people though” is not the definition of a military victory. If that were the case, the US would be recorded as having won in both Vietnam and Afghanistan, where they for sure killed a whole lot of people before offering unconditional surrenders.

But it’s not going to happen that way in Gaza.

The only real option for Israel is to continue to escalate this campaign outside of Gaza to the point where people just sort of forget about Gaza. This is fine for the Jews, because that was always the plan in the first place.