That doesn't change the fact that Hamas was just routed

Hardly.

Newsweek - The war is making Hamas more popular

------------------------------------------------------

www.newsweek.com/id/179967

It is hard to see what exactly the Israelis have accomplished so far in their 21-day-long war in Gaza. If the plan was to stop Hamas from firing rockets into southern Israeli towns, it hasn't worked; the rocket firing hasn't ceased for a single day. If it was to smash Hamas by killing its leaders, and reducing its offices and headquarters to rubble, the toll of death and damage is undeniable; the accomplishment, less so.

To win, as Hamas sees it, they merely have to survive. The bar is much higher for an Israeli victory. Now that they've gone into Gaza, any withdrawal will be denounced as a defeat; any new ceasefire Hamas will claim as a victory. Hamas leaders have boasted lately that they're already writing their victory speeches. "Yesterday they destroyed my house," says Hamis Odeh, a driver, "and today I have joined Hamas for the first time."

Israel has reportedly pulled out completely, Hamas, just as Hezb Allah did in 2006, now has more support than ever (my Lebanese Maronite relative-by-marriage is still apoplectic because his elderly aunt, who is a nun, became in 2006 and remains to this day an adoring fan of Hezb Allah), the tunnels are already back in operation, bringing in food and medical supplies, among other things. As of a week ago telethons in the Arab world had gathered $500 million, and it's no doubt significantly more by now, Saudi Arabia has pledged $1 billion. and other Arab and non-Arab countries are prepared to bring in thousands of tons of aid, including food, medicine, equipment, and materials, which Israel will continue to block at great peril to its already eroded reputation.

Hamas is not routed. On the contrary.

When will Israel learn to stop doing the same thing over and over expecting a different result each time? Probably never, since it has been doing the same things for 60 years now. The trouble is now that each time they do this kind of thing it comes back and bites them harder and harder.