Reuters analysis is well worth reading:
Despite killing some 1,300 Palestinians and blazing a trail of destruction, Israel failed to achieve the decisive military triumph that its leaders have claimed, said Alastair Crooke, a former European Union negotiator in the Middle East.
“It was a war of ghosts,” he said, adding that Hamas had preserved much of its combat capacity by avoiding direct confrontation with Israel’s vastly superior forces and had projected a defiant image of psychological strength.
“Israel feels that when Hamas sees the devastation of Gaza, it will emerge contrite, docile and deterred,” Crooke said.
“But Hamas did not emerge in their underpants waving white flags. There were no images of defeat. I imagine Iran is not dissatisfied with the political or even the military outcome.”
Tags: Hamas