The Surprise Attack on Israel

How Does Russia Benefit?

Source: Twitter / x

Yesterday, Hamas launched arguably its most significant assault on Israel since the organisation was founded.

It could best be described as a ‘bolt from the blue’ assault. In the lead up to the attacks, Israeli border posts had apparently observed limited rehearsals for the attack but these were dismissed as Hamas preparing for something they would never conduct. In most historical cases of tactical or strategic surprise, the indicators are often present but their importance is misinterpreted. As the Israeli’s dig through their records, more missed signs of this Hamas attack will be found.

Hamas achieved a large degree of surprise. This was through a combination of good operational security, luck and probably deception operations that will become clear in the coming days and weeks. The degree of simultaneity is also part of the surprise achieved in the initial hours of the attack.

The shock and surprise of this Hamas attack has had another impact - it has drawn attention away from the war in Ukraine. This is an important outcome of the attacks, even if it was not one of the specified aims of the Hamas leadership for the events of the past 48 hours. But an crucial question remains: how does Russia benefit from the attacks against Israel?