Operation ‘Go Nuts’ is a success so far — but for how long?

Paul Wood says that Israel’s ‘shock and awe’ in Gaza caught Hamas off-guard and was a ferocious demonstration of willpower. But the Islamist organisation is far from finished

A couple of months ago in Gaza, I found myself sitting across a table from a young Palestinian woman who had volunteered to become a suicide bomber. Umm Anas was 18 years old and wearing a niqab which revealed only her large brown eyes. She was full of implacable hatred for Israel and impatient for the ceasefire to end. ‘This is a gift from God,’ she said, talking about the opportunity to kill herself and as many Israelis as possible. ‘We were created to become martyrs.’

She went on: ‘If we just throw stones at the Jews they get scared. Imagine what happens when body parts fly at them.’

The suicide belt was on the table. It was, more accurately, suicide underwear, al-though Umm Anas was too modest to unfold the sturdy pair of wool knickers with its pouches for bricks of high explosives.