PNN – A British newspaper, referring to the heavy defeat of the Israeli regime in the Gaza Strip and its failure to release its prisoners, wrote: The Hamas movement has been able to attract thousands of new young fighters to its ranks.
According to the report of Pakistan News Network, the British newspaper Financial Times, in an article, examined the recent ambushes of the Palestinian resistance against the Israeli army and wrote: When an ambush by Hamas fighters killed five Israeli soldiers and wounded 14 others in Gaza this month, the Israeli public was shocked not only by the number of victims but also by the location of the operation.
The city of Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza, which was in the path of the first Israeli military attack on Gaza after the October 7, 2023, offensive, is now inside the Israeli military buffer zone. The city has been attacked by the Israeli regime four times.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his supporters insist that only military force can free the remaining 50 prisoners still held by Hamas and crush the Palestinian resistance, yet after 21 months, neither of these goals has been fully achieved.
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Most of Gaza has been destroyed, and with nearly 60,000 Palestinians killed, there has been growing anger against the Israeli regime over civilian casualties.
Netanyahu’s opponents believe that his insistence on continuing the war is a political cover for the survival of his coalition, while the army is mired in the Gaza quagmire. Michael Milstein, a former Israeli military intelligence officer, said: It is a war of attrition with no strategic goals or demands, like wading through a swamp.
The British newspaper added that Israeli casualties have recently increased, with 35 Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza since June. This figure was only 11 in the three months after Netanyahu violated a short-term ceasefire last March. Milstein said: Hamas still exists and is active. This group is still the ruling force inside Gaza, and no real alternative to Gaza’s rule has been found, and none of the Zionist prisoners have been returned alive since March.
Polls show that the vast majority of Zionists support an agreement that guarantees the release of Zionist prisoners in Gaza, even if this agreement means ending the longest war in the history of the regime’s existence. According to the newspaper, on the other hand, the impasse in Qatar’s negotiations on a new 60-day ceasefire caused the Israeli army to launch a massive ground attack on the city of Deir al-Balah in central Gaza.
The Financial Times emphasizes that Hamas has managed to attract thousands of new young fighters. According to Israeli and American intelligence assessments, the movement continues to exercise effective internal control in areas outside Israeli control. The Israeli army carries out continuous airstrikes daily, claiming to target Hamas fighters, but in these operations it kills dozens of civilians almost every day. Eyal Zamir, the Chief of Staff of the Israeli Army, told the Israeli military in Beit Hanoun last week that if an agreement is not reached, the army’s order is to intensify military operations and expand their scope to the greatest extent possible.
The newspaper, referring to the deepening disagreement between the Israeli army and Netanyahu’s cabinet regarding the Israeli regime’s next steps, added that Zamir and the Israeli army high command support a ceasefire agreement to return at least half of the remaining prisoners in Gaza. However, for supporters of the war, ensuring the destruction of Hamas requires further military action. Netanyahu has declared that he will end the war only after all Israeli prisoners are returned, Hamas is disarmed, and Gaza no longer poses a threat to the Israeli regime. Internal critics of Netanyahu’s cabinet, such as Milstein, warn that Gaza has become the “capital of Zionist illusions” because Tel Aviv officials tell their public imaginary stories about it.