Asklemmy

Hamas are, I think, a lesser bad guy to Israel's big bad. Hamas are an inevitable consequence of a settler neighnour like Israel.. the conflict is very old. Perhaps really the bad guy was Britain & the UN back in the 40s, who carved up Mandatory Palestine to create Israel & Palestine. You can trace it farther back to the origins of Zionism, too, in the late 19th century, and again British Zionists allowing settlers into Mandatory Palestine in the 20s.

I'd suggest reading over the history yourself and making up your own mind. The Wikipedia article is a good starting point imo. It's a long and complex conflict with no clear "good" or "bad" side.

What I think personally is that Israel was founded by colonist settlers, supported by imperial western powers. The Arab locals have resisted as best they could but been repeatedly defeated, while Israel's western support has allowed it to grow and grow. They have expanded far beyond the original borders by settling and stealing land from the Palestinians. Hamas is the most recent military faction in opposition, and it certainly has done terrible things... But a terrorist insurgency is an inevitable consequence of a settler nation attempting to take over a much less powerful neighbour. If it wasn't Hamas, it would be another group.

Maybe if Hamas are truly wiped out, we'll get lucky and the next one will be slightly less insane... But I doubt it. And you can bet Israel will use whoever they are as an excuse to continue their brutal occupation and wage yet more war in the region, while the rest of the world looks on.