I try not to be a conspiracy theorist, but I agree with your first paragraph fully, with the quibble that I would change the first sentence to, "That the Hamas attack could be such an unmitigated success just by luck and/or cunning under the circumstances in Gaza and the surrounding areas strains belief almost to the breaking point."

I didn't hear (why am I not surprised) about what Al Jazeera reported vis-à-vis the rave. I did read a report from an Israeli civilian hostage who got out alive that the IDF came in guns a-blazing and even with tanks and killed Palestinians and hostages indiscriminately. That would fit with what you write.

Agree fully with what you write in the last paragraph. My brother-in-law was a warden for a couple of decades in the Texas prison system. I went on two prison tours. Both at the same BIG prison that includes a death row. The first tour was when he was first there as a lowly guard, the second when he was a warden back in that same prison (they moved around a lot) about 25 years later.

Prisons make criminals. Being caged for years on end with no hope and no future is going to change you. Prisons also change the guards. I can't think of the correct term off the top of my head for what I saw my BIL become over his near 30 years in the Texas prison system. Suffice it to say it was not a change for the better. How could it be? Surrounded daily with caged humans, sporadic violence and the constant threat of violence is not going to make your more trusting of your fellow man.

Prisons are necessary. I saw guys in prison who were scary AF and I'm happy they were locked up. That is totally different to the general concentration camp attitude that the Israelis have for the residents of Gaza, half of whom are children.

Just like the US creates terrorists by bombing and killing people in faraway countries all over the earth, Israel creates terrorists by treating all Palestinians as terrorists from the moment they pop out of the womb. That doesn't justify terrorism, but it does help explain how things only get worse in Israel the longer the situation goes on.