Why not? 10/7 was a "tragic success" for Hamas.

Because US weakness is signal to others to act, and Hamas read (correctly) that Joe Biden wouldn't exact have a spine made of iron with this.

And they were right.

Biden would have had any different response than Trump to the attack that they thought they were making.

The North Vietnam playbook o has been the manual of choice for 50 years for small countries and terrorist armies to fight bigger and/or more well equipped foes. Winning on the battlefield is only part of it; winning in the media is the other. It helps when you, like the North Vietnamese and Hamas, have a lot of bodies you can throw at your enemy and you don't mind losing them.

Israel is 100% losing the propaganda war. That's been helped along in no small way by a feckless US President in Biden who should have told the (sadly, growing) minority wing of his party to shut up and stop paying lip service to terrorists.

Let's play this out and say Trump is President. In the immediate aftermath of a mass casualty attack on Israel by Hamas, would Trump be more likely to:

a) Issue a call for restraint while saying, "You know, there have been tragedies on both sides..."
b) Call up Netanyahu and tell him to Get Some while promising all the aid he needs, including intel sharing.

a) or b)?

You might say, "But Dope, Trump would have done b) but Biden did that as well". Perfect.

Now advance the clock by 6 months and The Squad and various media outlets are pushing Hamas' talking points about " " Famine " " and what not.

Would Trump

a) say "That's fake news, and Hamas' numbers are complete BS. Only terrorist sympathizers would repeat that stuff. The Israelis take care to avoid civilian casualties while the Hamas animals deliberately target women and little kids. The Israelis need to completely destroy Hamas".

b) say "We are extremely concerned with the reported casualty figures and urge Israel to come to the bargaining table. To encourage this we're considering slowing our support in terms of arms shipments".

What do you think the effect of a) vs. b) is on the media coverage? On campus protests? On the willingness of other countries to wag their fingers at Israel? On Hamas' fighting spirit?