re: #80 Obdicut

Well, if I started getting into the nuances of Hamas, proxy armies for the likes of Iran and Syria, media malfeasance that gives propaganda wins to terror groups, human rights groups that take a blind eye to terror but slam Israel at every turn, and my response would go from pithy to verbose.

However, what Hamas is doing, or trying to do in Gaza does defy a neat description and that discussion had come up previously. Gaza is not occupied by Israel; Hamas is in control - but it is not a declared state. I would say it’s a failed state. Hamas is a legitimate representative of the Palestinians as being duly elected by the Palestinians at their last election. They are the sole representatives in Gaza after their civil war with Fatah. That puts them in de facto control of Gaza. They enforce their “law” and exercise a near monopoly on the use of force (control the “security” forces, coordinate terror attacks, etc.). That puts them well ahead of a gang or warlord - a situation as in Somalia for example.

But the end results are the same - Hamas controls what’s going on in Gaza and is responsible for the situation there.