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In 2014, T.X. Hammes wrote “Israel and the Demise of ‘Mowing the Grass‘” for War on the Rocks, in which he wrote that Israel’s practice of “mowing the grass,” in which they routinely “conduct a major operation[s] to reduce Hamas’ capabilities” could cost Israel in terms of international support and its own military casualties. In light of the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7, Israel’s subsequent air campaign and, now, the ground campaign in Gaza, we asked T.X. to look back on his article. Read more below.Image via Sgt. Shay Wagner, IDF Spokesperson’s UnitIn 2014, you wrote an article for us highlighting the dangers of Israel’s “mow the grass” strategy, where Israel routinely stages operations against Palestinian militants to keep them at bay, much as one would mow a lawn. Does the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas represent a failure of this approach?The Oct. 7 attack represents a logical extension in the action-reaction-counteraction tactical cycle of combat. As noted in the original article, Hamas keeps increasing its attacks until the Israelis “mow the grass.” That action reduces the ability of Hamas to conduct such attacks for a period. But after each cycle, Hamas adapts to the Israeli approach and conducts more intensive attacks. When Israeli surface defenses increased, Hamas turned to tunnels to infiltrate Israel. When Israel conducted a major operation to neutralize the tunnels, Hamas increased its use of rockets. Israel neutralized the rockets with Iron Dome. So, Hamas spent years preparing the Oct. 7 attack designed to defeat Iron Dome and the new security wall Israel had developed.Specifically, you wrote that “a ‘mowing the grass’ approach will be increasingly problematic. First, inflicting heavy civilian casualties in response to targeted attacks on the Israeli military will undoubtedly further shift international opinion against Israel.” Has this been borne out?While Hamas