Victorious Hamas Probes Failures

AFP picked up on a report in Jane's Defence Weekly (subscription needed) that Hamas is launching an inquiry into the failures of the Gaza war:

Citing an unnamed top Hamas military commander, Jane's said a full report due soon would be critical of almost every decision taken by battlefield commanders during the 22-day assault, which ended last week.

The source quoted by Jane's added that Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal and his followers had effectively pushed for a conflict that it was not ready for . . . .

Hamas's military wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, and intelligence department have admitted shortcomings in how they responded to Israeli attacks . . .

I haven't seen the full report in Jane's, but if this inquiry is serious, it has the potential to spark a serious rift between Hamas's Gaza-based and Damascus-based leaders. Does anybody really believe their victory claims?

Posted at 02:02 PM