To much of the outside world, Hamas’s decision to murder hundreds of Israelis and trigger a war that has since killed many thousands of its own people looks like a historic miscalculation — one that could soon result in the destruction of Hamas itself.Hamas’s leaders, however, say that it was the result of a deliberate calculation.Ben Hubbard, the Istanbul bureau chief for The New York Times, has been reporting on their decision, and what went into it.Guest: Ben Hubbard, the Istanbul bureau chief for The New York Times.Background reading:
For more information on today’s episode, visit
nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. Subscribe today at
nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here
https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See
pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
“Educational Disclaimer: This episode is presented as part of an independent archival project dedicated to media literacy and the preservation of modern journalism. The content is curated for academic reference, linguistic study, and socio-economic research purposes. All original rights belong to the respective content creators. Our mission is to provide high-fidelity accessibility and full AI-generated transcripts for students of global discourse and international relations in the 2026 digital era"
