Even if you're right that doesn't explain why they launched the rocket barrage. The kidnapping itself didn't provoke the war.
Hamas started launching rockets after 3 weeks of Israeli military operations in the Occupied Territories, the arrest of hundreds of Palestinians, the destruction of more than 150 Palestinian homes, and an Israeli airstrike that killed 7 Hamas members. Prior to Hamas firing rockets there had been rocket fire from non-Hamas militants, but again, the rockets followed the Israeli attacks, which were themselves in response to the kidnapping. By the time the bodies of the boys were found (on Qawasmeh family property - a large extended family notorious for operating on it's own, sometimes in direct opposition to both Fatah and Hamas) approx. 500 Palestinians had been arrested, 6 had been shot dead, 2 people had died of heart attacks brought on by the raids, and the war was on.
Israel didn't attack Gaza at all until after the rocket barrage. Israel was engaged in police operations in which some people chose to shoot it out, that's not an attack.
You mean waiting until Israel had damaged or destroyed over 1,000 buildings, killed or wounded dozens of people, and arrested hundreds more who had nothing to do with the kidnapping before retaliating? I suppose that qualifies as timing things so Israel is held responsible for turning a crime investigation into a full blown war.
You realize "damaged" is things like broken doors of a forced entry?
You are postulating that 1) Hamas chose to ignite a war through kidnapping, despite the fact that kidnappings have not ignited wars in the past and 2) that Hamas did it for the money, despite the fact Hamas could not have known how much money, if any, would be pledged in foreign aid, or how much aid Israel would allow it to receive. I don't think either one is likely.
There's always a pile of rebuilding aid after one of these spats.
There was already a pile of money and aid due to arrive before the fighting broke out. Your accusation doesn't make any sense.
The pile is much bigger now.
The PLO accepted Israel before there was a Hamas. It didn't change anything. Why would Hamas accepting Israel change things now? What would change?
1) The PLO didn't change it's charter. It's just a deception for western ears.
2) The PLO has become much more moderate over the years--that's why the Islamist money has moved to groups like Hamas.
1) Yes, it did. There is some quibbling over whether the change was properly ratified, but the charter was changed and the change went through a ratification process that yielded a yes vote.
If they really mean to change the charter they should make the change clear, not the fuzzy mess we have now. Since the problem hasn't been rectified in many years it looks more like deception.
2) You didn't answer the question. What would change if Hamas recognized Israel? Why didn't it change when the PLO did it back in the 1990s?
And have you stopped beating your husband yet?
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Obviously the point was that Israel gains more from picking that fight. Jayjay showed that your "reasoning" is applicable to Israel's motivations as well.What's this got to do with the price of tea in China?
Hamas gains from the war even if Israel also gets help.
Except Israel spent a lot more on the war than what he listed.
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If we're following the usual patterns for these threads, the OP will have little or no interest in the question raised, but will actually be keen on trying to establish the assumption buried in the thread's title.
If this thread follows the pattern, the OP will have no interest in Why Hamas did anything, but will simply being trying to establish that it was Hamas' action, and not Israel's.
These kinds of things have to be established by assumption, because they are simply assumptions - they don't rest on any kind of logic.
I'm pointing out *WHY* Hamas chose a war!
What I do ignore is the rationalizations presented on here for terrorism. There is no justification for terrorism. And "terrorism" isn't merely an attack on your friends.