There Goes My Brilliant Idea

Somewhat to my surprise, Israel has declared that it won't intervene in Gaza following its takeover by Hamas. The reason this comes as a surprise to me is Hamas is backed by Iran and Syria, who also support Hezbollah. Furthermore, tensions between Syria and Israel have risen to the point where some believe there might be war between the two countries this summer. If that is indeed the case, it would be prudent for Israel to attempt to secure itself against an attack from Hamas in retaliation to Israel engaging Hezbollah and/or Syria in combat, avoiding a two-front war. Furthermore, it is likely that Israel would receive political cover for intervening in Gaza from some unlikely sources, namely Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, who are concerned over Iran's growing influence in the region and would want to see Iran's hand weakened strategically by the loss of the newly-acquired Gaza strip and politically by a humiliating loss at the hands of the Zionists.

As long as Hamas and Fatah were fighting each other in the Gaza Strip, it was in Israel's best interest just to let them kill each other, but now that a winner has emerged, some sort of engagement is needed. If Fatah had emerged victorious, a diplomatic solution was not inconceivable (even if it was unlikely), but with Hamas' triumph in Gaza, it will only be a matter of time before Hamas consolidates its power in Gaza and turns its attention to Israel. Israel would do well to act to limit the danger posed by Hamas' control of Gaza, and that necessitates military action.

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