Professor of Peace Studies at the University of Bradford, Paul Rogers, says that Israel is losing the war against the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government will never admit it. He points out that the official Israeli narrative is that Hamas has weakened, but the reality, in his opinion, is that the Israeli army’s doctrine of massive force is what is failing.
In an article in The Guardian, Rogers pointed out that until recently, the narrative of the war on Gaza was largely controlled by the Israeli army and the Ministry of Defense.
He added that Israel’s international reputation may have declined with the killing of 20,000 Palestinians, the wounding of more than 50,000, and the destruction of a large part of the Gaza Strip, but the Israeli army can still promote an acceptable narrative about Hamas’ extreme weakness, even claiming that the war in northern Gaza is complete. To a large extent, success in its south would soon follow.
The researcher believes that what helped this narrative were the severe difficulties faced by the small number of journalists still working in Gaza, while the International Press Corps was stuck in Jerusalem and relied on Israeli army sources for much of its information.
This changed when a different picture began to emerge, he said. There was a lack of evidence to support the Israeli army’s claim that there was a Hamas headquarters under Al-Shifa Hospital, and it was unable to locate the Israeli detainees, despite having some of the most advanced intelligence in the world.
Indications of the problems of the Israeli army
He pointed out that there are other broader indicators of the problems of the Israeli army, as reported by information published by the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper and obtained from the Rehabilitation Department of the Ministry of Defense, indicating that the number of Israeli injuries is more than 5 thousand, with 58% of them classified as serious injuries, and more than 2,000. People were officially classified as disabled, compared to official figures that spoke of the killing of only 460 soldiers in Gaza, Israel, and the West Bank, and the wounding of about 1,900 others.
He added that there were also a number of casualties by friendly fire, which according to the Times of Israel reached 20 deaths out of 105 due to the fighting.
Rogers criticized the leaders of the Israeli army, saying that despite the enormous pressure they are under to succeed, many of them are very intelligent, and they will now realize that despite all of Netanyahu’s narrative, Hamas, or at least its ideas, cannot be defeated by military force.
They also know that while the talks are stalling, pressure from the families of detainees may soon lead to another humanitarian truce. Therefore, their goal will be to harm Hamas as much as they can, as quickly as possible, and at the same time, whatever the price the Palestinians will bear, as evidenced by the intensified air strikes this week.
The researcher believes that Israel not only risks becoming a pariah state, even among its allies, but will fuel a generation of extremist opposition from the reconstituted Hamas or its inevitable successor.
He concluded his article by saying that Israel needs to save itself from itself, but this will depend more than anything else on (US President) Joe Biden and those around him. Perhaps motivated by the rapidly changing public mood in Western Europe, they will have to recognize their role in bringing this conflict to an immediate end.