Briefing | Resisting the call, for now

Hamas has failed to rally the Middle East to its cause

But it has managed to demolish America’s plans for the region

Hezbollah supporters wave Palestinian flags in Beirut, the capital of Lebanon
Not the sort of support Hamas was hoping forImage: EPA
|Beirut

“O,OUR PEOPLE in all Arab and Islamic countries,” intoned Muhammad Deif, the leader of Hamas’s military wing, in a recorded statement released to coincide with the group’s attack on southern Israel. “…The day has come when anyone who has a gun should take it out. Now is the time. If you do not have a gun, take up your cleaver, hatchet, axe, Molotov cocktail, truck, bulldozer or car.”

This article appeared in the Briefing section of the print edition under the headline “Resisting the call, for now”

From the October 14th 2023 edition

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