The Israeli Broadcasting Authority said that the Israeli government is preparing to announce soon that it has defeated the Al-Qassam Brigades – the military arm of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) – after the end of the Battle of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, despite statements by many former military leaders in Israel about the impossibility of defeating Hamas.
According to the broadcasting authority, the expected Israeli announcement comes amid possibilities of expanding the military confrontation with Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.
She added that the security and military leadership in Israel recently began talking about important progress towards defeating the military wing of Hamas in Rafah, but the matter requires additional operations.
The Commission quoted sources in the Israeli occupation army as saying that “two of Hamas’ brigades in Rafah are in a difficult situation and on the verge of defeat, and that two others’ conditions are described as average.” However, the Commission said that the military arm of Hamas is capable of repairing itself, and has already begun the process of Restoration.
The Broadcasting Authority stated that the Israeli army will continue to carry out military operations in the Gaza Strip in a different way, which is called Plan C.
Military skepticism
The talk about defeating the Qassams contradicts many Israeli military analyzes that talked about the difficulty of eliminating the Hamas movement, the most recent of which was stated by Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari.
Hagari stated that talk about destroying Hamas is just a speck of dust in the eyes of the Israelis, indicating that as long as the Netanyahu government does not find an alternative to Hamas, the movement will remain.
In an interview with the Israeli Channel 13, Hagari described the Hamas movement as an idea implanted in the hearts of the people that cannot be hidden.
For his part, a former Israeli general acknowledged the defeat of the Israeli occupation army before the Palestinian resistance in the Gaza Strip, warning of Israel’s inability to fight a “possible regional war in the region,” in light of the ongoing escalation with Hezbollah in Lebanon, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s rejection of the prisoner exchange deal. With Hamas.
In an article in Maariv newspaper, Reserve General Yitzhak Brik said, “Israel lost the war on the Gaza front with Hamas, partly due to the erosion of our ground army to the bone over the past 20 years.”
In turn, Haaretz newspaper said that Israeli security and military leaders and officials criticized in closed meetings the lack of a political strategy to end the war in Gaza.
The newspaper confirmed that officials criticized the demand to overthrow Hamas’ rule and destroy its capabilities, which was formulated under pressure without presenting realistic goals.
Since October 7, Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza with absolute American support, leaving more than 123,000 Palestinians dead and wounded, which has placed Tel Aviv in international isolation and led to its prosecution before the International Court of Justice.
Israel continues its war despite two UN Security Council resolutions to stop it immediately, and orders from the International Court of Justice to end the Rafah invasion, take measures to prevent acts of “genocide,” and improve the miserable humanitarian situation in Gaza.
Source : Tel Aviv Tribune + Agencies + Israeli press