7th October 2023: a splendid LIHOP

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What follows is a sort of English transcript, enhanced with screenshots and links to sources, of the following video (in Italian, with no closed captions) published on 7th October 2024 by Massimo Mazzuco, regarding Hamas’s al-Aqsa Flood operation one year earlier - in my opinion, it is an excellent analysis that deserved to be translated, hence my effort with this article. If you appreciate it, please consider liking it, restacking it, sharing it and subscribing to my substack.

How did Hamas’s well-organized military operation (al-Aqsa Flood) on 7th October 2023 get off the radar of Mossad? Is it a classic case of LIHOP, so that they could manage the guaranteed military operation with free rein and with the support of the whole Western public opinion?

Let’s first clarify what LIHOP means and its difference from a MIHOP.

• LIHOP is the acronym of Let It Happen On Purpose,

• MIHOP is the acronym of Make It Happen On Purpose.

A classic example of LIHOP is the case of the attack on Pearl Harbour on 7th December 1941: the Outlaw US Empire provoked Japan and let it attack the Pearl Harbour seaport, so that they could use this excuse to declare war against it.

The so-called 9/11 (the “terrorist attacks” on US soil on 11th September 2001) is a classic example of MIHOP, i.e. an inside job:

• the US generals lowered the danger level of air defense the night before,

• they sent out all the jet fighters on training missions in the morning,

• they made the air-controllers’ system go haywire, by entering false radar signals in it,

• they forgot to recall the jet fighters when they knew that US was under attack,

• and they disappeared during the “terrorist attacks”.

[Regarding 9/11 I refer you to these two documentaries by the same author, Massimo Mazzucco: The New American Century and 9/11 The New Pearl Harbor (both in English and with closed captions)].

So, the main difference between LIHOP and MIHOP is the type of enemy:

• in the first case (LIHOP), i.e. Pearl Harbour, the enemy really exists and you provoke it until it strikes back, so that you can wage war on it,

• in the second case (MIHOP), i.e. 9/11, you invent the enemy (the terrorists armed with box cutters), you carry out the operation by yourself from inside and then, thanks to the resentment, you can wage war against your real enemy.
  The result is the same, but the process is different.

Now let’s see what is needed to make a LIHOP:

1. an enemy, real or made up;

2. a growing situation of aggravation and provocation;

3. a crystal clear opportunity to attack;

4. blatantly ignoring all signals that the attack is impending;

5. maximise losses, to increase people’s resentment;

6. feint indignation and wage war against the enemy who dared to catch you “off guard”.

This applies perfectly to the case of Pearl Harbour:

1. The enemy is real: Japan, against which the Outlaw US Empire had been competing for the hegemony of the Pacific for a decade

2. The situation of aggravation and provocation was provoked by the Outlaw US Empire first with economic sanctions against Japan, then with a full embargo and finally with a total blockade on oil (Japan was dependent on US oil at 80%, thus putting the final nail on the coffin of civilian and military industry), hence leaving only one option to Japan: attack the Outlaw US Empire.

3. The Outlaw US Empire anchored several warships in a row in plain view in the seaport of Pearl Harbour, some of which even next to each other, so that they would not be able to move in a rush and so that they would be an easy target for Japan. Since those warships made up half of the US navy in the Pacific, that was a very tempting opportunity to attack for Japan (“now or never”) and so Japan fell into the US trap.

   

   US Navy arrangement in Pearl Harbour just before 7th December 1941.

4. Japanese warships moving toward Pearl Harbour were spotted by US allies and by the Outlaw US Empire itself:

   1. 3 days before the attack Australia warned its ally that Japan navy was moving toward Hawaii,

   2. a few of days before, UK warned its ally that Japan was about to attack,

   3. and even 5 days before, i.e. on 2nd December 1941, the US radar stations in the Pacific were detecting the approach of the Japanese navy.

   Of course, all this information was ignored, because they wanted Japan to strike first. US President Franklin D. Roosevelt sent a cablegram to Pearl Harbour saying “United States desires that Japan commit the first overt act”.

5. Obviously, by asking the US navy to prepare for an attack and leaving all the warships paired and in rows, the Outlaw US Empire managed to maximise the number of ships hit by Japan and the number of defenceless sailors killed while they were smoking a cigarette or sunbathing.

6. After the Japanese attack, the US President Roosevelt feinted indignation in front of his people and waged war against the bloody enemy who dared to catch his country “off guard” [see excerpt of Rooseevelt’s declaration of war at 6:06 in the video above or this other ~2-minute video below (not quite the same excerpt) - transcription from video below, all emphasis mine]:

   December 7th, 1941.

   A date which will live in infamy.

   United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.

   The United States was at peace with that nation and, at the solicitation of Japan, was still in conversation with its government and its emperor, looking toward the maintenance of peace in the Pacific. […]

   The attack yesterday on the Hawaiian Islands has caused severe damage to American naval and military forces.

   I regret to tell you that very many American lives have been lost.

   In addition American ships have been reported torpedoed on the high seas between San Francisco and Honolulu.

   As Commander in Chief of the army and the navy, I have directed that all measures be taken for our defense, but always will our whole nation remember the character of the onslaught against us.

   No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory.

Let’s now analyse 7th October 2023 with the same scheme:

1. Hamas is the real enemy, but it was created by Israel and, in particular, by Benjamin Netanyahu: it was him who let it grow until it became the great enemy it needed for his strategy. See for instance this Haaretz article:

   

   From Haaretz.

   Here are some excerpts:

   The MO [Modus Operandi] of Netanyahu’s policy since his return to the Prime Minister’s Office in 2009 has and continues to be, on the one hand, bolstering the rule of Hamas in the Gaza strip, and, on the other, weakening the Palestinian Authority.

   […]

   For over a decade, Netanyahu has lent a hand, in various ways, to the growing military and political power of Hamas. Netanyahu is the one who turned Hamas from a terror organization with few resources into a semi-state body.

   In another article Haaretz explained how Netanyahu facilitated the al-Aqsa Flood Operation on 7th October 2023:

   

   From Haaretz.

   Here are some excerpts:

   In practice, the injection of cash (as opposed to bank deposits, which are far more accountable) from Qatar, a practice that Netanyahu supported and approved, has served to strengthen the military arm of Hamas since 2012.

   In 2020, Mossad chief Yossi Cohen was sent by Netanyahu on a mission to Doha urging Qatar to continue financing Hamas, as reported by Haaretz:

   

   From Haaretz.

   Haaretz also quoted the Benjamin Netanyahu as saying the following in a meeting of his Likud party in March 2019:

   Anyone who wants to thwart the establishment of a Palestinian state has to support bolstering Hamas and transferring money to Hamas.

   So, first Netanyahu builds, finances and supports Hamas, helping it to achieve power in Gaza, then after the al-Aqsa Flood operation on 7th October 2023 he feints indignation and asks for “global support to battle Hamas on West’s behalf”, as reported by The Jerusalem Post:

   

   From The Jerusalem Post.

   And then we have the presstitutes of Western mainstream media (MSM) repeating Netanyahu’s story, because he defends the “Western values”.

2. On the growing situation of aggravation and provocation, there is not much to discuss. Palestinians in the Gaza Strips have been leaving in an open-air prison for more than 50 years - until 2005 they were under military occupation, then Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon removed his troops from Gaza, but its border stayed under strict Israeli control:

   1. Palestinians can get out only with Israeli permissions, which are difficult to obtain;

   2. Israel controls electricity production and distribution in Gaza - if Israel wants to stop it, they can stop it at any time;

   3. maintenance of water desalinization plants in Gaza depend on spare parts that Israel decide if they are allowed to get in or not;

   4. Israel forbids the entry of fertilizers and other products that could be even remotely used for military purpose (even just a metallic tube, that theoretically could be used to make a missile);

   5. Israel checks and monitor all essential goods and basic necessities, including flour, which is limited at a fixed quota, as well medicines and medical equipment (e.g. for dialysis and for cancer treatment) and Palestinians who want to go abroad for medical treatment have to get into very long waiting lists, managed by Israel (of course most of them die before getting permission).

   So, aggravation at the highest levels, like a boiler about to explode at any moment.

3. Now a trigger is needed, that is a crystal clear opportunity to attack.
   Here we need to talk about the defensive barrier around Gaza, built along the whole border with Israel:

   

   From Middle East Eye.

   This is the most technologically advanced defensive barrier in the world: it is even called “The Smart Wall”. It is ~60 km long, it costed more than $1 billion and it was completed just a few years ago. It is made up of a first layer with metallic fences and a second one with concrete walls, which go underground for several metres to prevent Palestinians build tunnels under the walls. The underground walls are even equipped with sensors that can detect any digging activity.

   

   buiFrom Middle East Eye.

   Israel has also aerostatic surveillance balloons with infrared cameras monitoring the border day and night, 24/7. Scattered along the barrier there are dozens of surveillance towers equipped with radars, sensors and high-resolution cameras which can spot a person up to 10 km! There are also so-called “sentry tech towers” with remote-controlled machine guns, hundreds of yards apart from each other - when sensors detect the presence of a stranger, the IDF (Israeli “Defense” Forces) soldiers can activate the machine guns remotely from their barracks. [Go to 12:59 of the video for a “live demo” of this system on Palestinians on two motorcycles].
   In extreme cases there are always Apache helicopters, which can reach any point of the border in just a few minutes.

   So, how did hundreds of Palestinians manage to penetrare this barrier on 7th October 2023 and reach undisturbed the Israeli kibbutz?
   Apparently, on that day nothing was working! Some of the cameras of the aerostatic surveillance balloons were out of order, we are told that the automatic systems of the towers were not working either and the IDF were at the minimum level, as ~70% of the soldiers were just moved to the West Bank allegedly because there was a threat of an uprising, which never materialized.

   Here are some comments from Efrat Fenigson, a well-known Israeli journalist who previously served within the IDF [at 13:53 in the video - ~1-minute excerpts from a ~7-minute video by Efrat Fenigson herself, original here]:

   Apparently Israeli Defense forces that were supposed to be around Gaza were placed around the West Bank because of security concerns so the Gaza envelope was left unoccupied with military. They say that around (60 - 80)% of that area was left without the IDF forces that were supposed to be there.

   Israel has one of the most advanced and high-tech armies [in the world]. How come there was zero response to the border and fence breaching? Personally, I served in the IDF 25 years ago, in the intelligence forces. There’s no way Israel did not know of what’s coming. A cat moving alongside the fence is triggering all forces. So this??
   What happened to the “strongest army in the world”?
   How come border crossings were wide open??
   Something is VERY WRONG HERE, something is very strange, this chain of events is very unusual and not typical for the Israeli defense system.

   So, to me this surprise attack seems like a planned operation on all fronts.

   Here is the testimony of an IDF soldier who was in service along the Gaza barrier [at 15:18 in the video, with audio in Hebrew and subtitles in Italian - unfortunately I struggle to find the original]:

   I was in the logistics support in the Gaza war of 2014.

   Listen to me: it is impossible that someone can get near the border without getting noticed, okay?
   The guards sit in the bunkers and cannot move their eyes away [from the screens]. They constantly watch the screens.

   A pigeon or a stork cannot get close to the barrier without triggering the alarms.

   There is no way that we could not see 400 men arriving with their trucks!

   “A pigeon or a stork cannot get close to the barrier without triggering the alarms”. Yet, on that day [7th October 2024] whole squads of Palestinians on trucks, car and motorbikes went through [the barrier]… and then, once on the other side, no Apache helicopter intervened to stop them! Palestinians could arrive undisturbed to the kibbutz, get some hostages and take them home.
   Only after 5 hours the IDF arrived with tanks and helicopters… not even if they departed from Sicily with inflatable boats!
   So, it’s clear: there were orders from the top to allow Palestinians to do what they did and then get back home undisturbed. To confirm this, we have…

4. …all the warnings that Israel received about the attack under preparation, but that Israel decided to ignore [Italian sources in the video have been replaced with others in English]:

   

   From The Jerusalem Post.

   

   From The Times of Israel.

   

   From The Times of Israel.

   

   From Nova news agency.

   

   From The New York Times.

   

   From Haaretz.

   

   From i24News.

   So, they abided by point 4 in full: ignore all warnings that the attack is imminent.

5. Maximise losses: it is not enough to allow your compatriots to be slaughtered, to increase people’s resentment, but you also need to increase the losses as much as possible. So, after intervening with a 5-hour delay, the Israeli tanks started striking indiscriminately the kibbutz, knowing very well that they would have killed their own compatriots as well. If you look at the following images, it is crystal clear that the damages cannot be caused by grenades of Palestinians - these are real cannon shots!

   

   From The Jewish Star.

   

   From News1.co.il.

   Here is how an IDF official justify the shelling of his own compatriots [at 18:43 in the video]:

   IDF Official: Our tanks attacked…

   Journalist: Fired on them?

   IDF Official: Yeah, yeah… Inside this house were another 15 burnt people, among them 8 babies. […] Because they were blocked in these houses and we needed to conquer back the settlement.

   Do you understand? They needed to regain control of the settlement, right? It was the most important thing and, if Israelis get caught in it, who cares?!
   Even helicopters, once arrived on the scene, fired on both Arabs and Israelis.
   So, first, when they had to stop the Palestinians’ advance, the helicopters at 5-minute flight distance did not appear; later, they completed the job by killing Israeli citizens as well.
   [On the topic above, see also this article from Electronic Intifada, these two articles from The Cradle (1 and 2), these Gray Zone articles: 1, 2 and 3]
   Then we have the rave party, where most people were killed and most hostages were taken:

   

   From Haaretz.

   Actually, it went even worse than depicted. Until two days before [the attack], that festival should have taken place in a completely different place, in the south. Only 2 days before the 7th of October [2024] it was moved right there, where Hamas’s men would invade, and without any particular reason.

   

   From Billboard.

   Here is what an article from Billboard says:

   Universo Parallelo [the name of the rave party] was not originally intended to take place at the Re’im site, with organizers moving it to this location only two days before it started, when another site in southern Israel fell through.

   Just imagine how unlucky: you organize a music festival with people, bands and instruments coming from anywhere in the world and, just two days before, the location is changed. Not only the new location is right on the road to the targeted kibbutz, but also there is just one road that could be closed from both sides so that the participants could not run away (from the same Billboard article - emphasis added):

   The new site at Re’im featured a pair of stages, with the Israeli producer Artiex playing the mainstage when the attack started. Gaster was told that the attackers closed the road into the festival from both sides so attendees could not escape.

   So, Israel knew very well Hamas’s attack plans [see point 4] and someone moved the rave party, which should have taken place somewhere else, right there, on the Palestinians’ route.
   Finally, the IDF sent a helicopter to shoot at the youth at the rave party:

   

   From The Electronic Intifada.

6. So, as you can see, they abided by all points in the LIHOP program. Here is the last one - feinting indignation in front of your people and the declaration of war [emphasis mine in the transcript below]:

   Citizens of Israel, we are at war, not in an operation, but at war!

   This morning Hamas launched a murderous surprise attack against the State of Israel and its citizens.

   We have been in since the early morning hours.

   I convened the heads of the security establishment and ordered, first of all, to clear out the communities that have been infiltrated by the terrorists. This is currently being carried out.

   At the same time, I have ordered an extensive mobilisation of reserves and that we return fire of a magnitude that the enemy has not known.

   The enemy will pay an unprecedented price.

   In the meantime, I call on the citizens of Israel to strictly adhere to the directives of the army and Home Front Command.

   We are at war and we will win it.

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