Sort of a selection bias at this point. I would presume most Hamas leadership is outside the country because it would be nearly impossible to coordinate and administer any kind of resistance network when your opponent is doing terror bombings and mass executions against any congregation of living people left in Gaza.

Folks left in Palestine managing any kind of sustained action against the encroaching IDF likely have little to no real-time communication structure and certainly no access to diplomatic communication necessary for a senior leadership coordinating with allies in the region. They’ll be junior officers at best and simple guerrilla paramilitary most often. Unlike the IDF, I doubt they put much stock in rank or commendation, either. Few insurgent networks have that kind of luxury.

Shouldn’t we have serious doubts about the reliability of Israeli intelligence given they didn’t see the 10-7 attacks coming

So much of what we know is pure rumor at this point. Its less what they know and more what we think they did or didn’t know. Given Netanyahu’s proclivities toward standing up Hamas as an organization he’s allowed to punch back down, there’s still a very real possibility that 10-7 was deliberately ignored as a means of kicking off the Gaza Genocide. Sort of like how 9-11 became the vector for the Bush Administration to throw the US military into Iraq.

So I think it is very possible that Palestinians have well-respected diplomats and ambassadors acting abroad in hopes of serving the interests of those back home. And it is also possible that Israeli intelligence turned a deliberate blind eye to insurgents in the run up to October 7th, because they saw a break-out as a justification for policies Yoav Gallant already intended to execute.

I’m kind of pissed that my first comment was deleted because of “Israel apologia” which isn’t your fault. But let me clarify that all I wanted to say is that the argument is self consistent which isn’t much. They legitimize their genocide by saying they want to wipe out Hamas eventhough they themselves say that the leaders are abroad. Now they extend their genocide to Syria which is their God given right since that’s their God promised land as well.

Sorry for being cynical but how is a comment apologia that talks about genocide (my first comment already did)? How am I supposed to learn and grow as a person when my comments are deleted? I upvoted your comment the moment I read it since you are right. That’s something I didn’t think about.