Gaza war: Israeli military admits it can’t win – but Benjamin Netanyahu isn’t listening

By Scott Lucas, University College Dublin

It was the moment that Israel’s military acknowledged the failure of its eight-and-half month war in Gaza – certainly the mission set out by the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, when he said after the October 7 Hamas attack that he would destroy the militant group.

On June 19 the spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, told Channel 13 News that the aim of eradicating Gaza’s leadership was unattainable.

This business of destroying Hamas, making Hamas disappear — it’s simply throwing sand in the eyes of the public. Hamas is an idea, Hamas is a party. It’s rooted in the hearts of the people — anyone who thinks we can eliminate Hamas is wrong.

At one level, the IDF spokesperson was merely restating what analysts had cautioned just after Hamas’ killing of 1,143 people, including 767 civilians, and its abduction of around 250 others. An all-out military assault, from the air and on the ground, would allow Hamas to present itself as the protector of Gaza’s civilians, even as Israel killed many thousands of them.

But, at another level, this was the Israeli military’s challenge to Netanyahu.

Three days earlier Netanyahu had snapped at a cabinet meeting: “To achieve the goal of destroying Hamas’s capabilities I’ve had to make decisions that weren’t always accepted by the military leadership.”

Now the IDF was effectively saying to the prime minister that his plan A of destroying Hamas was not viable. So what is plan B?

In Hagari’s words: “If the government doesn’t find an alternative – [Hamas] will remain in Gaza.”

Netanyahu’s perpetual war

The prime minister’s office refused to give way to the military, responding to Hagari’s interview by insisting: “[We have] defined as one of the war goals the destruction of Hamas’s military and governance capabilities.”

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