By Dr Marwan Asmar
Israeli army officers believe that they can’t defeat Hamas and Israel’s war on HAMAS will have to last till 2026 and possibly 2027.
Despite the massive destruction of Gaza by the Israeli army and the terrible killings of civilians, the Palestinian resistance movement led by Hamas’ Izz Al Din Al Qassam Brigades and Saraya Al Quds of Islamic Jihad still remain a formidable force in the Gaza Strip.
The Americans know this and so do the Israelis although the latter don’t want to admit it and insist on continuing to create more havoc and destruction in Gaza, though the strip has been turned into mountains of rubble at 26 million tons at the last UN count.
Al Jazeera presenter Ahmad Mansour says that on this Eid Al Fitr festivities, there are three items of news which are to say the least “joyful” on the Gaza front.
The Jewish daily Yedioth Ahronoth states Israeli army officers no longer believe that Hamas will be defeated any time soon and in the light of the battles they fought around the 364-Kilometer enclave.
They predict, the defeat of HAMAS will not materialize before 2026 and even 2027 which is a great deal of worry for the soldiers, for the politicians and the Israeli economy that has long gone spiraled downwards after 7 October.
Further, many believe it is the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who is the one that is really facing defeat and his statements are full of “hot air.”
Senior United States officials according to CNN consider Netanyahu’s statement that no force in the world would prevent Israel from entering #Rafah as merely a bluster.
Although there are ongoing negotiations on Gaza in Cairo and Doha, the Wall Street Journal states the mediators between the protagonists (Hamas and Israel) say HAMAS has largely rejected the American proposal for an immediate ceasefire and is about to put it’s on special proposal on the table.
Dr Asmar is an Amman-based writer covering Middle East affairs
11 April 2024
Source: countercurrents.org