Hebrew media: Hamas remains the ruler of Gaza.
Michael Milstein, an analyst for the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper, admitted in the Tuesday issue of the Hebrew-language media outlet: “After 3 and a half months since the resumption of its war in the Gaza Strip, Israel still sees the large and deep gap of the first day of the war before it, and it has still failed to achieve the two main and primary goals of the war, namely destroying Hamas’ capabilities (both military and administrative) and freeing all prisoners.”
According to the analyst, who is the head of the Palestinian Studies Association at Tel Aviv University’s Dayan Center, the Israeli army has now gained control of most of the Gaza Strip, but despite this, the main ruler of Gaza is Hamas, which manages the war as it sees fit and controls the general conditions in the region, contrary to the claims of the Israeli media discourse that it is in chaos.
Milstein adds: It must be admitted that Hamas still maintains its hierarchy and pyramid of command and has a decision-making structure. There is no significant general chaos in the region, and no alternative can be imagined for Hamas in the Gaza Strip at this time. The pressures exerted have also failed to change Hamas’s positions regarding the terms of the prisoner exchange agreement, while the projects implemented in the region, primarily the distribution of aid and arming of militia groups to fight Hamas, are also reaching a point of stagnation and failure.
Israel, continuing to implement its plans in the Gaza Strip, after several twists and turns, has once again found itself at the strategic crossroads it was at more than a year ago, facing the same two bad options: either it must completely occupy the Gaza Strip or pay the heavy price of ending the war and withdrawing from the Gaza Strip.