Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal admitted over the weekend that the terror organization was surprised by the extent of Israel's just-concluded Cast Lead counterterror operation in Gaza, according to the semi-official Egyptian newspaper al-Ahram. During the emergency Arab summit in Doha, Qatar, Mashaal said, "Hamas fulfilled a role in the creation of a war against the Palestinians, but did not expect that it would last 20 days."

He added that Hamas only expected the Israeli military activity to last two or three days.