What Was Hamas Thinking?

Modern War Institute

When Hamas fighters conducted a large-scale and deadly attack against Israel and its people on October 7, what was the group aiming to achieve? What were its strategic objectives? And what sort of Israeli response was it planning for? On this episode, John Amble speaks to Dr. Michele Groppi, a lecturer in the Defence Studies Department at King’s College London. Hamas's brutal attacks might have been tactically successful, but as Michele argues, they also might have actually exceeded what the group thought it would be able to accomplish. And that tactical success might prove to be a major strategic error, if Israel sets as the objective of any ground campaign in Gaza the complete organizational dismantling of Hamas and total destruction of its military capabilities.