PNN – An American newspaper Washington Post wrote that Israel has not succeeded in carrying out its military operations in Gaza and Hamas has remained largely intact.
According to the report of Pakistan News Network, an American newspaper Washington Post wrote in an analysis today that while Israel has begun operations in southern Gaza, it is still far from achieving its military goal of completely destroying Hamas, and the group remains largely intact.
The American newspaper Washington Post wrote in the headline of this analysis: “Israel has promised to destroy Hamas, but this group has remained largely intact.
The Washington Post writes that Israel’s military operations in northern Gaza have not yet been completed, and although Gaza City has been completely razed to the ground, Israeli ground forces have not yet entered some key Hamas headquarters there.
“The journey will be long and long,” said Richard Hasht, a spokesman for the Israeli army. We need time.” According to the Washington Post, however, he pointed out that diplomatic time for Israel is limited.
The attacks of the Zionist army in Gaza have so far led to the martyrdom of nearly 16 thousand Palestinians, 5000 of whom are children. The Washington Post writes that international pressure on Israel is increasing as civilian casualties increase.
Ukrainian President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday: “I think we have reached a moment when the Israeli authorities must clearly define what their ultimate goal is. The complete destruction of Hamas? Does anyone think this is possible? If this is to happen, the war will last 10 years.”
About a third of Gaza City, including areas expected to be heavily fortified, is still outside the control of the Israeli military, Mikhail Milshatin, former head of the Palestine division of the Israeli Defense Intelligence Agency, told The Washington Post.
The Washington Post wrote that during the temporary ceasefire in the war, dozens of Hamas members showed up in the main square of Gaza City to hand over the prisoners, which indicates the continued presence of Hamas in the largest city of this strip.
According to the American newspaper, the Israeli army has not yet visited the most well-known military headquarters of Hamas, including Shujaiyeh. Some of the most intense clashes between Israel and Hamas took place in this region in 2014.
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Stating that Hamas has prepared all its infrastructure in this area, Milstein wrote about the possibility of a conflict there: “It will be a very difficult war.”
Satellite images taken on November 30, before the expiration of the temporary ceasefire between Hamas and Israel, show little signs of Israeli military presence in Shujaiyeh neighborhoods of Jabalia. Despite this, Israel has targeted these areas with heavy bombardment since the resumption of hostilities.
“The deadliest part of the conflict is still ahead of us,” said Michael E. Horowitz, chief intelligence officer at risk analysis firm Beck International. He clarified that Hamas has apparently avoided direct confrontations so far. “They will be put in a corner and they will have to fight,” he said.
Horowitz noted that although Israel is conducting airstrikes in southern Gaza and civilian casualties are increasing, international pressure will make it difficult for Israel to repeat the strategy implemented in the north.
Stating that Israel’s operations in the coming months will be more focused on invasion and counter-insurgency operations, this political analyst said: “It’s likely that we’ll be facing some kind of lower-level counterinsurgency operation in the coming months.”
An Israeli security official said in a statement consistent with the same assessment: “Our operations will be very different from our operations in Gaza City because the southern region is much more densely populated.”
In an interview with the Washington Post, three Israeli security officials claimed that 5,000 Hamas forces have been killed so far during Israeli operations. According to the Washington Post, most of the 30,000 Hamas forces are still alive and well.
However, there are doubts about this statistic. “We only have one source, and that is the Israeli military, which for various reasons tends to overstate the numbers,” Horowitz said.
The Washington Post wrote that although Hamas is believed to have between 27,000 and 40,000 members, analysts say that Hamas can easily recruit new members.
According to this report, for Israel, disabling the leadership of Hamas is more important than the number of members of this group. Yahya Sinwar, the commander of Hamas in Gaza, is therefore considered one of the targets of the Zionist regime’s army.
The Israeli army has dedicated a lot of intelligence resources to determine the whereabouts of Sinwar and other key Hamas leaders, including Mohammad Zaif, the head of the Hamas military branch.
Among the difficulties that Israel faces in this operation is that Hamas has hundreds of miles of tunnels inside Gaza, which allows this group to transfer its weapons and soldiers to the places it wants without being detected.
The English-language newspaper “Financial Times” reported today that the estimates of the Israeli army show that the tunnel network of Hamas in Gaza is bigger than the London subway network.
The London Underground has 270 main stations and 260 substations, and 55% of this network is located on the ground. This network, with 408 kilometers of railway, is considered the third longest intra-city transportation line in the world.
A former Israeli security official has claimed that the term “tunnel” does not do justice to what Hamas has created under Gaza, and instead used the term “underground cities”.
Yochwood Lifshitz, an 85-year-old captive released by Hamas in October, said the Hamas tunnel network is an elaborate “spider web” that stretches for several kilometers and has “huge halls” that can hold up to 25 people, the Financial Times continued.
Horowitz told The Washington Post that it is not easy to determine the extent to which Israel has been able to hit the Hamas tunnel network. However, some analysts say that about a third of the Hamas tunnel network remains intact.
The Washington Post also wrote that despite two months of war, Hamas is still capable of firing rockets at Israel, and the group fired several rockets at southern Israel on Tuesday. Horwithers said it will be difficult for Israel to destroy Hamas’ rocket capabilities.