The New York Times said that Israel failed to achieve its two primary goals in the war, which were to liberate the detainees and completely destroy the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), even if the military operations led to its weakening.

The question remains, after 6 months of war, what Israel has achieved, when the fighting can end and how, creating increasing global tensions around a war that has cost Israel support even from its close allies.

The newspaper explained - in a joint report between its editors in Washington and Jerusalem - that the war and the Israeli army’s tactics came at a heavy cost, as large numbers of Palestinian civilians were killed, hunger became widespread in Gaza, and Israeli military losses began to rise, and about 133 of them are still dead. Detainees in Gaza.

The war settled into a deadly pattern of skirmishes and air strikes as Israeli forces continued the war in Gaza.

The Israeli army said that it struck more than 100 targets and killed dozens of fighters in the central part of the Strip, indicating that Hamas’ losses continue to mount, and that the pace of fighting and Hamas’ capabilities have diminished at the present time.

Hamas remains

Despite the heavy losses suffered by Hamas - according to the newspaper - a large part of its senior leadership in Gaza is still in place, hidden in a vast network of tunnels and underground operations centers, and is making decisions in the negotiations, at a time when American officials say that these tunnels will allow Hamas to survive and reconfigure itself once the fighting stops.

Douglas London, a retired employee who spent 34 years in the CIA, says, “The Palestinian resistance, which is manifested in Hamas and other armed groups, is as much an idea as it is a physical and tangible group of people, and no matter how much damage Israel inflicts on Hamas, it will remain capable, flexible, and funded and a long line of people after all the destruction and all the loss of life."

In an annual intelligence assessment issued last March, American spy agencies expressed doubts about Israel's ability to actually destroy Hamas.

The report said, "Israel will likely face continued armed resistance from Hamas for years to come, and it will be difficult for the Israeli army to neutralize the infrastructure that allows the resistance fighters to hide underground, regain their strength, and surprise Israeli forces."

The war reaches Rafah

The Israeli army believes that 4 battalions of Hamas fighters are stationed in Rafah, and that thousands of other fighters have taken refuge there, along with about a million civilians, and therefore these battalions must be dismantled.

But the only way to destroy it - according to Israeli officials - is a major incursion by ground forces into Rafah, and destroying the tunnels between Gaza and Egypt would represent a decisive goal.

However, the invasion of Rafah has become a point of friction between the United States and Israel, as American officials say that Tel Aviv did not develop a plan to evacuate civilians from Rafah, and without that, the death toll in Gaza, which has reached 34 thousand, will rise even more.

"I have yet to see a credible, workable plan to move people that has any level of detail on how to house, feed, and provide medicine for these innocent civilians, but also how to handle things like sanitation," Jake Sullivan, US President Joe Biden's national security adviser, told reporters. Water and other basic things.

As for Rafah, American military planners want Israel to carry out targeted raids on Hamas' strongpoints but after the transfer of civilians. "This is the right time for Israel to move to a new phase focused on very specific counter-terrorism operations," Lt. Gen. Mark Schwartz said.

The newspaper pointed out that the movement of civilians inside Gaza, and the Palestinians who took refuge in Rafah, constitute a major sticking point not only between the United States and Israel, but also in the talks related to the ceasefire and the release of detainees.

William J. said: Burns, CIA Director “It's too big a rock and too steep a hill. It's this negative reaction that stands in the way of innocent civilians in Gaza getting humanitarian aid.”

American officials privately say that the only way for Israel to achieve a deal that frees the detainees is to stop the Rafah operation, but Israeli officials say they believe that only the impending operation in Rafah has kept Hamas in the negotiations.

As the talks continue, anger grows among the families of the “hostages” over Israel’s failure to return their relatives to their homeland. Gilad Korngold (62 years old) said that he was overcome by words of “despair, frustration, anger and fear” due to the government’s failure to find the detainees, adding, “They have abandoned them.” 

Since the beginning of the war, Israel has tried to destroy the vast network of tunnels under Gaza, which extends for hundreds of miles and sometimes reaches 15 floors underground.

Tunnel network

The newspaper said that Israel has tried since the beginning of the war to destroy the vast network of tunnels under Gaza, which extends for hundreds of miles, and sometimes reaches 15 floors underground, and is used by Hamas to hide its leaders, hold “hostages” and allow its fighters to escape the Israeli attack, according to Israeli and American officials.

Although Israel was unable to destroy the tunnels that Hamas spent years building, Israeli officials say that they have taken control of most of the main points, and that 19 of the 24 Hamas battalions have stopped working, significantly reducing Hamas's ability to command its forces.

American officials and analysts say Hamas is likely to remain a force in Gaza when the fighting ends, but how quickly it rebuilds will depend on Israel's decisions in the next stages of the war and its aftermath, as both the Israeli military and the Palestinians prepare for what comes next.

Some Israeli officials say that crushing Hamas may take years, and Israeli Defense Cabinet member Benny Gantz said that the war may last “a year, a decade, or a generation.” Therefore, American officials feel embarrassed and say that Israel must declare victory over Hamas and move to a different type of war. Fighting.

Source: New York Times + Aljazeera