Over 10 months into the war, Israel has accomplished everything that it could gain militarily in the Gaza Strip against Hamas and can’t do anything more, a report in the New York Times has claimed, citing US officials.....CONTINUE READING THE ARTICLE FROM THE SOURCE
Washington believes that Tel Aviv will never be able to completely wipe out Hamas and that more bombings only increase the risk of civilian casualties.
“Israel has been able to disrupt Hamas, kill a number of their leaders and largely reduce the threat to Israel that existed before October 7,” Gen. Joseph L. Votel, former head of US Central Command was quoted as saying by the publication. A former senior CIA official added that Hamas was largely depleted in the region but nowhere near being wiped out off the map. However, the Israeli side has refuted the claims saying there were gains still to be made on the ground in Gaza. “If Israel evacuates its forces now, within a year, Hamas will be strong again,” said Yaakov Amidror, a retired IDF major general, who added that the military needs another two to three months in central and southern Gaza. Netanyahu and Gallant argue
Notably, the report comes a couple of days after Israeli media reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was angry over Defence Minister Yoav Gallant calling his goal of achieving “total victory” against Hamas “gibberish”.
Netanyahu accused Gallant of adopting “an anti-Israel narrative” that was hurting the momentum of the forces and the ongoing talks.
“When Gallant adopts the anti-Israel narrative, he harms the chances of reaching a hostage-release deal,” the Israeli PMO said.
Gallant made the rather rebellious remark in front of lawmakers during a private security briefing.
“I hear all the heroes with the war drums, ‘absolute victory,’ and all that gibberish. I saw that courage when it came down to the discussion,” said Gallant, according to reports.
Despite gaining control of the majority of the Gaza Strip, the Israeli forces haven’t been able to free the hostages kidnapped on October 7 last year. The hostage-truce talks have been at an impasse for months, despite Washington attempting to fasten the process.
Meanwhile, an imminent threat of retaliatory strikes from Iran also looms over Israel.
