THEY WANTED HAMAS TO WIN June 2007. Days after Hamas took control of Gaza. A U.S. embassy cable from Tel Aviv — 07TELAVIV1733, later released by Wikileaks. In it, Israeli military intelligence chief Amos Yadlin tells the American Ambassador that Israel would be happy to see Hamas take full control of Gaza. The reason, as recorded: once Hamas held the Strip, the IDF could treat Gaza as a single hostile entity. The cable itself notes Yadlin's remark was "not necessarily representing a GOI consensus view." A parallel cable from Shin Bet chief Yuval Diskin, dated the same day, records the other side: Fatah figures asked Israel to strike Hamas directly. Israel declined — and was wary of flooding weapons into a force that was already collapsing. Hamas won the 2006 elections. The US and Israel refused to accept the result, then backed a Fatah force to overturn it. The June 2007 fighting was the climax of that power struggle. Hamas took Gaza. Israel designated the entire Strip hostile. Every man, woman, and child. Everything became a legitimate target. Then came the blockade. Then the bombings. 2008 — Cast Lead. 2012 — Pillar of Defense. 2014 — 2,200 Palestinians killed in two months. 500 of them children. The vast majority non-combatants. Israel lost 73, most of them soldiers. 2018 — the Great March of Return. Snipers on the fence. 2023 to now — the rest. Homes destroyed or damaged beyond repair. And they can't rebuild. The blockade bans construction materials from entering. So Gaza sits in the rubble, as if the war ended yesterday. And the script never changes. Israel violates a ceasefire. Gaza fires rockets. Israel unleashes a wildly disproportionate assault. The media trumpets self-defense. Almost zero Israeli casualties. Mahmoud Al-Zahar, Hamas co-founder: "We are not playing terrorism. We are under occupation. The Israelis continue their aggression against our people. Killing, detention, demolishing. In order to stop these processes, we run effective self-defense by all means, including guns." The cable is public. It's been sitting there for years. Nobody looked. 🧭