[Hamas fighters — possibly a poster]
The Indian government has been hoisted on to the horns of a dilemma. The rightwing coalition government in Israel of Benjamin Netanyahu, not unreasonably, seeks universal branding of the Hamas (Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islamiya — Islamic Resistance Movement) as a terrorist organisation in order to justify its all-out military campaign launched in the Gaza Strip. It was in response to the surprise combined arms attack October 7 on the nearby Israeli kibbutz (farming cooperative) and small towns across the “iron wall” the Israelis built along the border with Gaza to keep themselves safe. Had this Iron Wall worked as advertised, there would have been no Israel-Hamas war.
The so-called “Iron Wall” is a high advanced-tech steel wire fence interspersed with towers mounting machine guns slaved to banks of surveillance sensors, including aerostats (large ground-tethered balloons with radars and thermal sensors, cameras, and other devices that maintain a 24/7 vigil). The machine guns automatically fire in “kill zones” that cover the length of the wall on the Israel-Gaza border the instant sensors at any time detect breaches of the wall.
It is a solution, incidentally, the Indian government considered buying into to prevent infiltration across the Line of Control in J&K by Pakistan-based jihadi groups. But it was deterred by the high price. Just as well, because while it cost Israel a billion dollars to install this protective border complex, it took the lead Hamas elements only a few seconds to “blind” the thermal and imagery sensors, and a few precision drone bomblets dropped on the towers, to render the wall useless, and allow the Hamas fighters to flow unimpeded into Israel. The Israeli “iron dome” air defence system, was likewise defeated by a too large barrage of rockets fired from within Gaza.
So far so conventional military-wise innovative. Combined with the motorised gliders and high-quality coordinated actions by air, land and seaborne units conducted in “radio silence”, ‘Operation Al-Aqsa Flood’ marked the Hamas out as a force that had transited from hit and run actions to planning and carrying out a genuinely imaginative military breaching operation, and a uniquely effective proto-military in embryo of a future independent state of Palestine, whatever its current relationship with the civilian Palestinian Authority running the show in Gaza.
After the initial successes in nullifying the Israeli wall, the combined arms units began moving inland. And that’s when things began going very wrong. The Hamas fighters went rogue. Rigged up in proper battle uniforms and gear, they reverted to being terrorists — indiscriminately shooting up unsuspecting Israelis on the streets, lobbing grenades into basements filled with terrified defenceless people seeking shelter, surging into the Kibbutz Be’eri and killing everyone they saw on sight as they roamed the gated compound, and taking hundreds of men, women and children hostage. It lost Hamas its hard won status as a conventional military force deserving of respect.
In other words, Hamas proved to be a terrorist group after all, like the Lashkar-e-Tayyaba in Kashmir — a fact the Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu reminded his good friend Narendra Modi about, by declaring the LeT a terrorist outfit in the runup to the 15th anniversary of the heinous 26/11 seaborne strike by the Lashkar on Mumbai in 2008. (Of course, the then Congress party government of Manmohan Singh, memorably, did nothing by way of retaliation.) It has put the Indian Prime Minister in a bind, especially because the Modi government has come out in favour of a “two-state solution” for Palestine that the Israelis are skeptical about. This is a compromise the Indian government has pushed and is a later development. Because, with the partition of India in mind, New Delhi in 1948 opposed the partitioning also of Palestine.
Netanyahu’s gambit is not only to blunt the political effects in West Asia of New Delhi’s advocacy for Palestine and Israel coexisting together, but also of the Mission of Arab foreign ministers making the rounds of various capitals presently in India seeking Modi’s support for, in effect, ending the Israeli military operations against Hamas, an option Netanyahu rejected out of hand when mooted by the US.
The Modi government cannot but revel in Israel’s coming down on India’s side where LeT and other Pakistan-sponsored jihadi outfits are concerned. But equally, it has to be mindful of the consequences of its adopting a too-pro Israel stance on Modi’s wildly successful policy of cultivating the Gulf states and Saudi Arabia.
Had Hamas’ initial military actions not degenerated into rank terrorism, Modi’s problem might have been trickier to deal with. But now New Delhi cannot but side with Tel Aviv because Hamas’ deplorable behaviour is akin to the LeT’s targeting mainland Indians and Indian troops in Kashmir. And if a harsh Indian response to LeT terror is appropriate in J&K, so is Israeli belligerance in Gaza.
The specific issue of India reciprocating by labelling Hamas a terrorist gang and thus legitimating the Israeli conduct of war in Gaza can be put off for the nonce, but cannot be avoided for long. Not if the conflict in West Asia festers and undoes the lasting rapprochement between Israel and UAE and Bahrain, with Saudi Arabia to follow, promised by the September 2020 Abrahamic Accord. Because then both the sides will be calling in their IOUs.
Security Wise 
The essence of this narrative has been circulating almost everywhere in the so-called “free media” although unsubstantiated by other ground reports. In particular, who “fired indiscriminately”, the Israelis or the Hamas? Hamas has denied this. Once again, Scot Ritter had a go for it here to set some of the records straight:
Amazingly, Jaishankar is doing his best to steer India’s statecraft on the right track to go for a two-state solution for a “Palestinian State” whereas “Vishwa Guru” is swimming in a turbulent sea.
this Vishwaguru narrative is pushed by BjP to realize Indian people how great they once were and awake their self-confidence.
this narrative is nothing to do with their foreign policies.
imagine explaining buying cheap Russian oil while China openly supplying weapons to Russia and still not receiving the flak India would have received so calm down.
Israel has a sophisticated military to defend its land, Palestine has only Hamas to protect its citizens & land. How could they develop a conventional military, with what Israel has been doing to Palestinians since 1948? Undoubtedly, Hamas is a resistance force.
Has the so called well trained Israeli military remained a disciplined force? The way Israeli military has acted in Gaza after 7 Oct is worse then a terror outfit.
Would the world have acted had Oct 07 not happened? Israel failed to respect Resolution 242 of Nov 1967, demanding that the settlements be ended. Israel continued its settlements with impunity & the world remained a mute spectator.
Hamas realised remaining silent only encouraged Israel. Oct 07 was a reminder to the world about the way Palestinians were being treated in the West Bank & Eastern Jerusalem. It was born out of frustration.
This can’t be termed terrorist actions.
Professor,
Israel declared LeT a terrorist organisation after they suffered the worst terrorist attack on their soil. They did not declare LeT a Terror organzation when India suffered its worst terrorist attack in 2008. India will not do what Israel wants, but what it wants. So when the conditions are right, it may do so. Israel should know this well. For now Israel should be happy that India supports it, like India should.
Btw, Professor, Israel has also declared LeT a terror organisation because there are reports that LeT cadre have been involved in Gaza, training Hamas. So they have a real reason to declare hem a terror group.
Email from Dr V Siddharta, former science adviser to the defence minister
Wed, 22 Nov at 8:23 pm
Re: ” (Of course, the then Congress party government of Manmohan Singh, memorably, did nothing by way of retaliation.)”
Why MMS did not retaliate has been dilated upon by Menon (against his predilection/advice, he says) in:
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/israel/virtues-restraint-terrorism , which you must have read.
VS
Email from Commodore Anil Jai Singh (Retd)
Wed, 22 Nov at 10:16 pm
It has taken 15 years for Israel to declare LeT a terrorist organisation, driven of course by the need for Hamas to be similarly declared as such, and India must do so at the earliest. If Oct 7 hadn’t happened, would Israel ever have done so ?
Hamas is a Gaza division of Muslim Brotherhood, which has already spread its tentacles in India. Designating it as a terrorist organisation would increase the temperature of desert amidst us. Israel already has the superpower and its allies with it, whereas we are superpoor and alone. GOI could help Israelis without advertising or acknowledging. We have to balance shia Iran, sunni states and Israelis quietly without being seen as favouring one over the other. Let them fight it out without inserting our noses and drawing attention to ourselves.
well for once india is supporting retaliation by israel and supplying aid to palestine
how much more balancing do you want?
To hell with Israel, Palestine, and all other foreign nations, for that matter. High Time we look at a mirror ourselves.
How long are we going to tolerate this blood-curdling nonsense? https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/rajouri-encounter-1-more-soldier-dies-toll-goes-up-to-5-let-terrorist-killed-101700745142448.html . The Para SF Captain KIA in this particular encounter had ditched a BE degree from a reputed college to go for NDA. These are the committed young men who should be at the helm in Army HQ in Delhi and not the despicable, import-infatuated fat boomers we have now. Both the senior army brass and the political dispensation have a mutual agreement for exchanging the lives of the flower of our officer corps with easily disposable 2 rupees inbred Pakis. It’s high time we kiss the rear of so-called Human rights goodbye and take credible steps to address the root cause of the problem. The fundamental problem is the highly radicalized nature of Muslim Kashmiri society. There are less than 10% of Muslim “natives” who support statehood with India. Everybody in this forum is well aware of the problem. The only way to solve the problem is to set certain “rules of engagement” by taking pages straight out of Nazi security warfare doctrine(bandenbekampfung). For a start, the Internet and all other forms of communication in the LoC districts must be cut permanently. Any “civilian” suspected of talking to terrorists/housing them must be arrested immediately and his fate must be left in the hands of the nearest officer. The army needs to be issued an absolute carte blanche from Delhi(an Indian version of the “Barbarossa decree”/amended more relaxed AFSPA). Villages where terrorists are located and where “locals” obstruct encounters with stone pelting or other means must be promptly razed through the ground without any mercy. Many people in South Block still do not understand that the fundamental problem is that these people are hard-wired to yield to nothing but barbaric usage of force. The “Restraint and hearts and minds” approach is greeted with nothing but sneering contempt by the populace. They will happily leech off our hard-earned taxes but will not hesitate to kill the “kayar hindoo” at the first opportunity. If GOI wants to end the “death by thousand cuts” trap in Kashmir, it has no other option. Any kind of restraint against the “natives” constitutes a mortal danger to our men in the line of fire.
Now I know very well many people in the South Block and senior army brass fear sanctions and denial of visas, confiscation of ill-gotten wealth in foreign countries, etc. But shifting assets(and kids) to Dubai is not a bad idea. As far as arms sales are concerned, there can be nothing better for the nascent domestic defense industry than an embargo on Western arms sales.
bharat sir i saw your manifold podcast and it was really good, you provided some really good insights
the question came in to my mind was: is china playing greyzone tactics with india at LEH and Arunachal pradesh?
Yes, and have been since 1962.
Sir, in your podcast, you said that the Chinese government believes India is a land of subjugation, while in the same sentence, you said that its people have a culture inherited from us, like Buddha and Monkey Ninja. Sir, the government representatives are the same Chinese people, so how can their government representatives believe something different from their own people in terms of culture? And one political analyst said that China attacked India in 1962 because China was wary of India’s cultural superiority and felt that attacking India would liberate them from Indian culture.