Why Did Hamas Attack Israel?

I found this analysis called “Why Did They Attack Us?” by Shai Eden, an Israeli digital creator and businessman, to be helpful in understanding the wider picture of what is going on between Israel and Hamas.

I don’t necessarily agree with everything Mr. Eden says, and I find him to be inconsistent in several places. However, I think Mr. Eden explains well how the Israel-Hamas situation is related to a wider Russian-Iranian-Chinese alliance as opposed to a Western-Sunni-Israeli alliance.

The translation is from Hebrew to English, done by Google translate and polished by me, Bill Schlegel.

Original Hebrew Post by Shai Eden, digital creator & businessman. Oct/27/2023
(with additional links and maps)

https://www.facebook.com/631503054/posts/pfbid02mZNeKtu28eUcs3VtBeqfa7BDuDAx6bPY8VusRmFdZP14FuJ7ZKdcoLFCjtu2YHdNl/?mibextid=cr9u03

Translation begins:

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Why did they attack us?
Despite the hatred, and love of death of Hamas, the reason for the timing and size of their attack lies in the saga of the Cold War, which is heating up before our eyes. In the big picture the immediate suspects are once again: money and power.

Those who think that the reason for the attack was only tremendous hatred and release of Hamas prisoners, are not seeing the big picture. I'm not talking about the bigger Hamas or the Palestinian picture, but about an even bigger picture.

According to foreign reports, led by officers of the Quds Force, the foreign operations arm of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, about 500 militants from Hamas and Islamic Jihad participated in exercises in September. General Ismail Kaani, the commander of the Iranian al-Quds Force participated in the training himself.

World intelligence sources claim that Iran initiated the attack on Israel. The Wall Street Journal, quoting senior Hamas and Hezbollah officials, reports that the decision was made at a meeting in Beirut on October 2 in the presence of their leaders. An adviser to the Syrian government and a European official gave the same account of Iran's involvement.

So this is Iran. But why Iran?

Despite Iran’s monstrous hatred and desire to murder us, the Iranian leadership is generally very calculated. Even when they choose to use direct force, they do so with strategy. After all, they knew that after such an excessive attack, Israel would lose its temper, pursue senior Hamas officials and attempt to crush Hamas. So what went through the minds of the Iranian Shiite leaders? Why did they bring down a disaster upon Gaza?

The answer: because that's exactly what they wanted. Disaster in Gaza.

Anyone who is not satisfied with the answer, "because they are crazy", should follow the money trail. Yes, again, the money.

It's always power and it's always money. But this time it's much bigger power and money. No, not the millions that Qatar transferred to Hamas, not even the money that America pays to the countries of the region. Much more than that. Much, much more than that - this time it's the biggest money war we've ever known.

Welcome to the end times of the Cold War.

Let’s climb to the top, to the biggest money: it was and remains in energy: oil and gas. Just yesterday Russia announced that Hamas is not a terrorist organization. Isn't that weird? Why would Russia say such a thing? She, who suffers so much from terror? Why is Russia stoking the fire against us? What does Russia have to do with the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians anyway?

Now, I'm not saying that Russia did this to us. But I am sure of one thing, and you will soon understand how simple this math is: the biggest beneficiary of the war - could be Russia, and with it, China and Iran.

The largest energy transportation project in the world is owned by the Russian government. This is the biggest global energy project ever, Putin's baby, built over the past two decades, quietly, quietly, in partnership with China in the East. Russia has built a massive pipeline system from its territory to half the world, and to Europe. Yes, to the West. It is a system of pipelines that are hard to fathom. In just a few years, Russia has reached a tremendous level of control over Europe's energy, achieving sometimes the unimaginable. Until the Ukraine war, Russia was the main supplier of natural gas to Europe, selling about 50% of all gas in Europe. An amazing amount of gas by all accounts that dropped to about 20% following the sanctions that accompanied the Ukraine war. We have to understand, in Europe gas is not just electricity and stoves, gas is a survival product with which water and homes are heated on frozen winter days.

Gas is life.

Until recently, Russia dominated the West through control of the gas and oil supply. And together with China, Russia also penetrated the energy market in the (Persian) Gulf.

And, another country that benefits greatly from this cooperation with Russia and China is Iran. Yes, Iran. Just last July, Iran signed a gas agreement with Russia in the amount of $40 billion, which joins a lot of other business that occurs between Russia and Iran, and also between Iran, Russia and China. Iran sits on the second largest gas reserves in the world, after Russia, and it needs to sell it to someone. So, with the help of Putin's infrastructure, Iran sells gas to...the West. Strange, right? Sanctions on Iran? Not when you have Russia as a business partner.

Last year, Russia brought in an astronomical amount of $138 billion from gas exports alone, and another $218 billion dollars from oil exports - despite sanctions imposed on it following the Ukraine war.

Russia makes a lot of money from Europe.

Putin's pipeline is no longer just an economic project - it is a colonialist infrastructure project of power and strength. These pipelines give Russia a semi-monopoly in the natural gas business. Putin built with the genius of a skilled chess player the smartest thing he could think of. Russia became the largest gas supplier from Beijing to Europe. In fact, Russia is the largest gas supplier in the world. But he (Putin/Russian) has a special fondness for the European pipeline, for a simple reason - it holds the West by the balls.

The whole Russian gas pipeline system was built at record speed over the last 20 years. The "Nordic Stream" pipeline (see map) was built in a year and a half, in partnership with European countries - God knows what they were thinking. This happened when America was busy with its Gulf wars, in Afghanistan and Iraq, in the post-September-11 period. We could say that America fell asleep on guard, and Putin took Europe, and together with China they are taking the East and the (Persian) Gulf.

So America, waking up late to this Monopoly game, belatedly looked for a way to regain lost control. America's fear was that Russia and China would use this energy stranglehold power against the West.

And America’s fear was validated in the Ukraine war when Russia closed the energy supply line to the West as a response to the West's support for Ukraine. And, in addition, one of the pipelines leading from Russia to Germany suffered a mysterious terrorist act. So, the (Russia-Europe) "friendship" became less friendly as gas prices soared in Europe, to the point that many European families were left out in the cold, literally, because they preferred not to buy expensive gas. The cost of natural gas in (some parts of) the world jumped by 700%. Europe entered into a panic and countries like India found themselves on the brink of crisis. Also, there is no doubt that Russia’s gas pipelines prevented an attack on it by the West in the Ukraine war because, how can you attack the one who sells you gas?

America realized that it had to respond to this situation. America couldn’t allow that in every conflict between the West and the East that Putin could cut off (energy) supply. So, America began to diminish Russia's involvement as an energy supplier to Europe. They (America and Europe) lowered Putin’s (European gas exports) from 50% to less than 20%. They cut of his plan for Russian pipeline dependance, and (Europe) started importing more gas from the US, and moved towards “clean gas”, which does not go through Putin's pipelines.

In addition, America has moved on to another very big creative solution. If Putin comes to Europe through the north - we (America and Europe) will outsmart him and bypass him - from the south.

America's super-ambitious economic project has been given a very friendly name. They called it: "The Abraham Accords". You’ve heard of it?

It's (billed as) a plan for peace, of course, but it's also a huge economic corridor, and it's also a lot of gas. The vision is to produce a territorial string of normalized relations that begins in India, through the Emirates, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Israel (Israel, we know 😊) and from there to Greece, Cyprus, Europe. If Russia comes from the north - America wants to crush it from the south.

If you will, this is the Russian-Iranian-Chinese front against the Western-Sunni-Israeli front. Game of Thrones kind of stuff!

Pay attention to the drawing I’ve attached. Above is Russia's amazingly ambitious pipeline system, and below, the “Line of Peace”, as presented by Netanyahu himself in his celebratory speech on September 9 of this year (see attached video), a month before the attack on Gaza.

There is a missing piece to the puzzle - Saudi Arabia and Israel do not have official relations.

It’s not news that Saudi Arabia is looking for a solution to export oil and gas from the region. And, Saudi Arabia is also threatened by the Iranian nuclear bombs, and the growing closeness of the Shiite enemy (Iran) to China.

So, let’s say "Shalom" and make peace. Easy. Everyone will benefit - Sunni Saudi Arabia will sell oil and gas to the West, goods will arrive from India and bypass China. Saudi Arabia will also compete with Shiite Iran, which hates (Sunni) Saudia Arabia, and it will gain a military alliance with America and Israel.

Basically, America came up with a strategy that bypasses Russia-China-Iran: an energy and commodities route from its Sunni Arab friends in the south of the Gulf that will compete with Russia and the Shiites in the north. Saudi Arabia is also deluding itself into hoping it will get permission for atomic (energy and/or weapon development) from the US - I doubt if anyone would dare. But you never know.

Indeed, during the summer of this year, everything gained momentum when Biden and Netanyahu started talking about a historic peace between Israel and Saudi Arabia. Then on September 9, during the G20 conference, Biden announced his own crazy “super plan”: the "Peace Train". Walla!

Not just a train, not just peace, but in Biden’s own words: "a real big deal, changing the regional rules of the game."

The plan is to build a fast and advanced train that will transport commodities between the countries of the Peace Axis of the Abraham Accords, from India to Europe. A fantastic vision in itself. But this train, with all the peace it brings, hides one more important goal under the tracks of it’s so-called “humanitarian vision”. You got it already... a gas pipeline. Crude oil and gas will be transported by train, and by an upgraded “clean gas” by pipeline.

Watch the video I have attached here from the ILTV channel from September 9 this year, and pay attention to the words of Ursula Gertrud von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, who specifically says the words: "a pipeline of clean gas". She tries not to emphasize it too much, but it’s clear to everyone what this is about. It should be said that "clean gas" means hydrogen gas, which is friendlier and more efficient to use, and which Russia's pipelines do not have. Simply put: an upgraded gas and pipeline that will make Putin's pipeline obsolete.

Biden will have a bigger pipeline.

And this pipeline from India also connects to the pipeline that Netanyahu agreed on with the leaders of Greece and Cyprus in January 2020. The "EastMed" pipeline that will be the longest in the world between Israel and Greece, and from there to Italy.

And Saudi Arabia? It needs this new alliance badly in order to neutralize Iran whom it hates, and bypass the Russian-Chinese monopoly of goods and energy going towards Europe. So much so that at the G20 conference the Saudi crown prince announced that his country would invest about $20 billion in the project - even before the peace agreement with Israel was signed! Heck, peace is a done deal. What could possibly interfere?

What has happened is that America directly threatened the jewel of Putin and China with a “screw you” plan of its own. Everyone should know that an Arabian Pennisula-Israel-Europe pipeline is a disaster for Russia and China. And if it is a disaster for them, it is also a disaster for Iran, because it strengthens the connection between two entities that Iran hates: the Sunnis (Saudi Arabia) in the south and the Zionists in the west.

For Iran, an alliance between Sunni Saudi Arabia and Israel is an indescribable disaster. The alliance would connect Saudi Arabia to the military power of Israel, and Israel to the economic power of Saudi Arabia. And it puts Saudi Arabia and Israel as major players in the global energy market. From Iran’s perspective: it is a cause for war.

On the other hand, from Saudi Arabia’s perspective, Iran is the hated Shiite which is developing an atomic bomb.

So how does one torpedo the new alignment?

Easy: kill the “peace”.

Where and how? In Gaza.

A few days after Sept. 9, the Hamas-niks were already training in Iran. Three weeks after Biden’s announcement the meeting with Hezbollah and Hamas took place and the operation to thwart peace was hatched. Everything happened in September during the time which for traditional Judaism are known as the “terrible days” or “days of awe”.

On October 3, four days before the attack, Khamenei in Iran was quoted criticizing Saudi Arabia for the peace plan, and he concluded his words with a firm statement: “It will not happen.”

Iran chose Hamas, for a good reason. Hamas is Sunni, like Saudi Arabia, and they are loved by the public in Saudi Arabia. We might think it's all a war to free occupied land or because of a deep religious agenda, but in the end, it's about money.

For Hamas, striking Israel is a mitzvah, to release prisoners, to give a sense of victory. But as far as Iran is concerned – Iran doesn’t really care about the small Sunni organization that took over Gaza. Some say that Shiites hate Jews less than they hate Sunnis! It's a DNA-level hatred. A hatred that is described in the famous quote, "Of all God's creatures the dog is the most impure, but a Sunni Arab is worse than the dog."

Iran could have chosen Hezbollah to start the war and it might have been an even greater success. But Hezbollah is the real child of Iran, a Shiite religious organization, which it is obliged to protect. But Hamas, the Sunni "dog", the "Arab low-lifers" can be sacrificed on the altar of the pipeline. Mohammad Deif (Hamas military leader) is stupid enough to think that Iran wants good for Gazans. He is crazy and violent enough to flow with any murder of Jews and humbling of Israel. And he flowed with the attack-Israel plan like gas through the pipelines of Russia and China.

But in order to torpedo such a significant peace agreement, it was not enough for some small attack on Dizengoff Street which would drag in its wake another run-of-the-mill Israeli military operation, from which “peace” and Biden's train could yet be restored. They needed something substantial, something big, that would resonate throughout the Arab world, so that Saudi Arabia could no longer even think about peace with Israel. They needed something that would last for years. Israel would need to go crazy. Israel would need to be so angry that even Biden would not be able to stop it. They needed an unforgettable mega-attack. They needed a September 11. They needed a war.

And that's how this disgusting thing that happened in the Israeli villages near Gaza got started. Not in the name of the Shiite religious war on the Zionist occupation, but in the name of money.

It’s not a Gaza war. It’s a gas war.

But surprise!

Saudi Arabia is in no hurry to call off the peace. And until Saudi Arabia declares that the peace is cancelled, the great goal has not been achieved.

Note how the Saudis are staying quite silent. Israel is crushing their brothers in Gaza but the Saudis are staying quiet, trying to keep some opening for peace with Israel and the huge project that is so important to them. It is likely that we will see attempts by Russia, China and Iran to increase the war, to prolong it, with all kinds of games of hostages being released occasionally, and an organized, well-financed global protest, until it reaches Saudi Arabia.

Personally, I hope that Saudi Arabia, as well as Israel, will be smart and strong enough not to fall into this trap. This peace is a historical leap for Israel, even if it’s clear that it will bring a lot of trouble with it.

A few additional observations:

- The psychotic madness of Hamas and the accompanying Gazans has nothing to do with the big picture. They are murderous wretches who gave the devil within them free rein to murder and rape us, and they need to be eliminated. Till the end. A full crushing.

- At the same time, we also need to understand the big picture. From the moment Israel entered the arena of the global energy war, and became a main player - it's a completely new story. We are now a significant player in the Cold War.

Israel is not only a central junction between tectonic plates, it is also a major junction between gigantic powers. And pressure will only increase as peace gets stronger and the pipeline gets underway. I hope it finally gets going.

- Hezbollah is in no hurry to enter the war and for good reason. Hezbollah’s interest is that the Israel- Hamas war will only increase and the attention of the Sunni world, mainly in Saudi Arabia, will be directed mainly to the Sunni losses (in Gaza). Sure, Hezbollah shoots some anti-tank missiles here and there, but it's lip service, nothing more. There is a limit to how much they are willing to sacrifice for the Sunni Arab Hamas.

- Russia went against Israel publicly. Obviously, its interest at the moment is for Israel to be portrayed as an evil entity, in order to push as much as possible against the peace agreement with Saudi Arabia. Russia and China are the main beneficiaries of the crisis – that’s unequivocal. It also embroils America here in the Middle East and decreases the West’s attention in Ukraine.

- The Emirates, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia are quite silent. Everyone already understands that the peace project is in danger of collapsing, but they still hope it can come to be a reality. I hope they keep their clear thinking and hold on to this important peace.

-The USA came here like it never has before. The aircraft carrier group Gerald Ford came to Israel and another to the Gulf. Biden sat in the Israeli cabinet. What?! Why? Why is this situation so unique? After all, isn’t this once again just Israel against a terrorist organization? What huge, gigantic, precious interest does America have to protect this time? Could it be that there is some kind of pipeline under threat? Understand, the energy pipeline is the biggest issue currently standing between the US and Russia and China. In the dimensions of the Cold War – this is bigger than missiles in Cuba.

- Without hesitation all of Europe is in favor of Israel. The world is divided into West and East. Everyone already understands what is happening here, it is only us who tell ourselves that it is Israel against the Palestinians and nothing else. But Europe would love to be freed from the suffocating hands of the Russian-Chinese front.

- If you didn't understand what Russia wanted from Ukraine, now you know better - their oil and gas, and especially their territory where a significant part of Russia's pipeline crosses to Europe. Putin can say all day that the war is a response to “terrorism”. Yeah, right.

- It is very possible that the big clash between Saudi Arabia and Iran is still ahead of us. For sure, as long as Biden's peace project continues, we will see more and more attempts to thwart it by Russia and Iran. The railway-pipeline, when it starts to be built, is going to suffer from "terrorist" attacks along its entire length. Therefore, it is a long road ahead of us - which has only just begun.

- The Abraham Accords are presented as some tremendous achievement of the great statesman Netanyahu. Come on, it's a huge economic project of America. The US initiated it and put it together, all to bypass Russia-China. We (Israel) are just another piece of the Cold War puzzle. It's just sad that the victims were forced to pay for the power whims of the Superpowers.

- Apparently no one in the world really cares about the Palestinians and their terrorist organizations. They are just another tool in the Cold War toolbox.

- At the same time, it is clear to me that if Iran feels it can one day conquer Israel, it will try. It is already an ancient messianic religious dream that for Iran supersedes any other motivation. And there may be bigger nations than Iran who can help her.

That's it, it was long, huh?

Are you starting to understand the big story?

In the end, it's who has the bigger pipeline.

Sources: Publications in Israeli and foreign media, Wikipedia. I didn't invent anything; I just connected the dots.
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End of Translation

Original Hebrew Post by Shai Eden, digital creator & businessman. Oct/27/2023
(with additional links and maps)
https://www.facebook.com/631503054/posts/pfbid02mZNeKtu28eUcs3VtBeqfa7BDuDAx6bPY8VusRmFdZP14FuJ7ZKdcoLFCjtu2YHdNl/?mibextid=cr9u03