Although Hamas initiated the war with Israel, upon researching the war and related issues it seems that there are several factors that should be considered as the violence rages on. These factors—including massive intelligence failures, talk of the mass relocation of Gaza’s population, the proposed Ben-Gurion canal and the existence of a large natural gas field off the coast of Gaza—call into question if there is imperialist intent and greed operating behind the scenes.
Intelligence Failure
The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) is a “bipartisan, nonprofit policy research organization dedicated to advancing practical ideas to address the world’s greatest challenges.”
On Oct. 25, CSIS experts participated in a commentary titled “Experts React: Assessing the Israeli Intelligence and Potential Policy Failure.”
“It is incredible that Hamas planned, procured and financed the attacks of Oct. 7, likely over the course of at least two years, without being detected by Israeli intelligence,” noted Jessica Davis, senior associate of the CSIS’s Transnational Threats (TNP) Project.
“The fact that it appears to have done so without U.S. detection is nothing short of astonishing.”
According to Emily Harding, deputy director of the CSIS’s International Security Program, the “Israeli intelligence services are among the best in the world—clearly focused on mission, creative and technologically advanced.
“Their tech has handed them some impressive intelligence wins in the past, but in October 2023 an overreliance on technology likely contributed to an intelligence failure.”
Daniel Byman, a senior fellow on the TNP, stated that “reports of what Israeli military intelligence and Shin Bet, Israel’s domestic intelligence agency, which has responsibility for Gaza, told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his senior advisors about Hamas’s intentions and capabilities, are still unfolding—yet these agencies are already taking responsibility for a massive failure.
“However, Israeli policymakers probably also bear considerable responsibility. They prioritized Iran and the growing violence in the West Bank, as well as the turmoil in Israel itself.
“Some of the Israeli policy response might have stemmed from a careful consideration of intelligence analysis, but it also could be due to Israeli leaders’ own sense of Israel’s interests, their belief that the Hamas challenge was effectively managed and their political priorities, such as appeasing the settler community that is expanding its presence on the West Bank.”
All these statements point to a massive intelligence failure.
Talk of Mass Relocation
A Canadian Broadcasting Corporation report dated Nov. 2, titled “Leaked document fuels concern Israel plans to push Palestinians from Gaza into Egypt,” states that “an Israeli government document suggesting the mass relocation of Gaza’s 2.3 million people to Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula is fueling concerns about the possible ethnic cleansing of Palestinians.
“The leaked document, first reported in Israeli media, was compiled by an Israeli government research agency known as the Intelligence Ministry and was dated Oct. 13—six days after Hamas led deadly attacks on Israel and the Israeli government declared war against the Palestinian militant group, which controls Gaza.
“Although not a binding policy, it has deepened long-standing Egyptian fears that Israel wants to make Gaza into Egypt’s problem and revived Palestinians’ memories of the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people who fled or were forced from their homes during the fighting surrounding Israel’s creation in 1948, which Palestinians refer to as the Nakba, the Arabic word for catastrophe.”
Ben-Gurion Canal
On Nov. 13, the Indian Express reported on the proposed Ben-Gurion Canal through Israeli occupied territory. “Many decades ago, the Americans proposed to use nuclear weapons to blast a waterway through the Negev Desert. But the plan never progressed. [Now] there is some talk about the ‘Ben-Gurion Canal’ again as Israel pushes to destroy Hamas in Gaza.
“It has been speculated that one of the reasons behind Israel’s desire to eliminate Hamas from the Gaza Strip and completely control the Palestinian enclave is to give itself the chance to better explore a dramatic economic opportunity that has been talked about for several decades, but for which peace and political stability in the region is an essential prerequisite.
“The idea is to cut a canal through the Israeli-controlled Negev Desert from the tip of the Gulf of Aqaba—the eastern arm of the Red Sea that juts into Israel’s southern tip and south-western Jordan—to the Eastern Mediterranean coast, thus creating an alternative to the Egyptian-controlled Suez Canal.”
It would begin at the port city of Eliat and finish right next to or directly through Gaza. The new canal would be situated at the intersection of three bodies of water, and it would cut shipping time and costs significantly. The new canal would give the United States and Israel control over maritime trade in the world’s most significant shipping lane.
According to Richard Medhurst, an independent journalist and political commentator based in Great Britain, the Ben-Gurion canal would be part of a new economic corridor stretching from India through the Middle East on to Europe. Medhurst says it’s an attempt to rival China’s Beltway Initiative by creating a new trade route controlled by the United States and Israel and greatly benefiting Europe.
In a related development, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu told ABC News, “I think Israel will, for an indefinite period, have the overall security responsibility because we’ve seen what happens when we don’t have it.”
Gas Field off the Gaza Coast
On June 18, Reuters reported that “Israel gave preliminary approval for the development of a gas field off the Gaza Strip on Sunday while saying it would require security coordination with the Palestinian Authority and neighboring Egypt. If concluded, the agreement would be a boost for the cash-strapped Palestinian economy.
“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said progress would hinge on ‘preserving the State of Israel’s security and diplomatic needs.’”
Hamas official Ismail Rudwan told Reuters: “We reaffirm that our people in Gaza have the rights to their natural resources.”
Industry experts estimate the gas field holds up to 1.6 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. If developed, liquefied petroleum could be easily exported to Europe. Currently, Europe is suffering from a gas shortage due to the mysterious explosion of the Russian gas pipeline to Germany. Obviously, whoever controls the Gaza gas field stands to make enormous profits.
In conclusion, as in every war, there is always more to it than meets the eye. The motives are often economic in nature. As American taxpayers funding this war, we should all feel obligated to end it immediately.
