Around 25 years ago, Israel was under pressure to surrender Gaza and the West Bank.
Netanyahu is on the record for opposing the two-state solution.
At the time, supporting Hamas (indirectly) was the best way to make sure that the two-state solution was not going to happen.
It's pretty clear. Obviously, Netanyahu did not plan on the scenario where Israel would suffer from the October 7th attacks.
But we were able to see that Hamas was able to gain strength in Gaza while the PLO lost their authority to govern the territory.
It makes sense. But Netanyahu and Israel paid a heavy price for that strategic decision not to decimate Hamas as a legitimate political authority in Gaza earlier.
Hamas didn’t become a major player until 2006 when the Bush pushed for elections in Gaza, that the PA was supposed to win.
Hamas got the surprise win, and then the US and Israel funded and armed the PA/Fatah to try and overthrow Hamas, but lost.
In June 2006 Israel invaded Gaza. Then again in 2008 Israel invaded Gaza, and the final failed Bush foreign policy move was to force Israel to pull out in the last weeks of the Bush presidency.
^^ this isn’t a track record of supporting Hamas.
Israel did later allow money from Qatar into Gaza. The reasons are complicated. It started as part of terms of a ceasefire agreement. It was also a failed attempt to appease/moderate Gaza. Was there some idea it would keep the West Bank and Gaza divided, thwarting a two-state deal? Probably!! But Israel didn’t initiate payments as a strategy, it was more like a side effect of events.