Israel's war strategy was guided by the yearning for revenge

Israel has three main objectives in its war with Hamas: revenge for the October 7 massacre of 1,200 Israelis, the elimination of Hamas from the planet and the release of all hostages. I think the three objectives conflict with each other. First, you can't have all-out war while the hostages remain. They won't be released if the battle is raging. And the objective of revenge, while totally understandable, is never a good foundation for a properly-orchestrated war. The soldiers go onto battle determined to kill as many Hamas fighters as possible, even when there are a helluva lot of other obstacles in the way, such as innocent civilians, apartment blocks, houses and hospitals. Revenge motivation muddies the brain. So the first few weeks of the Israeli operation against Hamas in Gaza were all about revenge, and the resdult is there for all to see - about 15,000 Palestinian civilians killed, including 6,000 children, and whole buildings demolished, and more than a million people displaced after being ordered out of their homes. When they had got the first rush of revenge out of their system, the Israelis calmed down and started talking about hostage releases. Now, Israel is talking of fighting the war in a different way with more focus and precision. But this is what Israel's commanders should have planned from Day One. Not mass slaughter and destruction for seven weeks, but clinical attacks aimed at the Hamas leadership and keeping the Palestinian people as safe as possible. Israel's war is with Hamas, not with Gaza and not with the Palestinian civilians. But it's all too late. The revege motivation got in the way.