As Hamas leader Baraka bragged on TV, “We made them think that Hamas was busy governing Gaza and that it wanted to focus on the 2.5 million Palestinians (in Gaza) and has abandoned the resistance altogether. All the while. . . Hamas was preparing for this big attack.

“The Israelis are known to love life,” he continued. “We, on the other hand, sacrifice ourselves. We consider our dead to be martyrs. The thing any Palestinian desires the most is to be martyred for the sake of Allah, defending his land.”

Until the weekend, everyone in Jerusalem and Washington believed the terrorist group cared more about the survival of its regime than all-out war.

After an attack in the south and now in the north, Israel is waking up to its inherent vulnerability.

[And ironically, this will lead Israel to do what it should have done 17 years ago — wipe out Hamas. Would they have had the political will and diplomatic support to achieve that then, though? I would guess not, but after this barbarous attack, those days are over. And Israel isn’t the only country that should have scales falling from their eyes about Hamas after this, too, and almost certainly Hezbollah as well. — Ed]