Israeli and American voices criticizing the ground operation launched by the Israeli occupation army in the Gaza Strip are rising, amid confirmations that it is not possible to achieve the operation's declared goals of eliminating Hamas and releasing prisoners.

In this context, former Israeli Minister of National Security, Omer Barlev, said, “The assumptions governing the ground operation, as established by decision-makers in Tel Aviv, are wrong,” specifically the belief that the occupation army can continue this operation for several months.

In an analysis published by the Haaretz newspaper on Thursday, Bar-Lev pointed out that the Israeli leadership is mistaken if it believes that it will be able to guarantee the release of captured soldiers and settlers captured by the Qassam Brigades, at the end of the ground operation.

Bar-Lev, who during his military service commanded the “Sayeret Matkal” unit, the most famous special unit of the occupation army, added that it will be very difficult for Israel to achieve the two main declared goals of the war on Gaza, which are: eliminating Hamas, and liberating the prisoners who were captured in the “Operation” Al-Aqsa flood.

According to Bar-Lev, the liberation of Hamas prisoners will only be achieved as a result of intensive negotiations conducted following the end of the war on Gaza, and not before that.

He said that Israel's attempt to use the ground operation and the destruction and sabotage it entails to influence the morale of Hamas leaders will not succeed, noting that this is confirmed by the previous wars launched by Israel in the Gaza Strip.

He warned that the unprecedented military and diplomatic support provided by the United States to Israel is not guaranteed, and it is not certain that it will continue without conditions.

The war "will not be the last"

For his part, former US ambassador to Tel Aviv, Dan Christer, said that Israel is violating the advice it provided to the United States when it occupied Iraq in 2003.

In an article published by the newspaper "Haaretz", today, Thursday, Kurtzer, who was working as ambassador during the war on Iraq, mentioned that Israel advised the United States not to remain in Iraq for a long period after the end of its military operations, indicating that this is what Israel should do in Gaza Strip currently.

Christier particularly condemned the calls issued by Israeli ministers, representatives and politicians for the necessity of exploiting the war to occupy the Gaza Strip and relaunch the settlement project there.

He stressed that Israel is required, in the wake of the war, to abandon the blockade measures it has been imposing on the Gaza Strip since 2006, when Hamas won the legislative elections, warning that Israel will not enjoy calm after the war on Gaza unless it works to resolve the conflict with the Palestinian people. Stressing that if the leadership and public opinion in Israel do not reach this conviction, the current war “will not be the last.”

"International legitimacy is collapsing"

As for the writer in the newspaper "Yedioth Ahronoth", Ben Doron Yemini, he saw that all indications indicate that Israel's ability to continue the war on Gaza and achieve its goals has declined due to the collapse of the international legitimacy that this war has now enjoyed as a result of what the international media reports about the number of deaths. There are many wounded among Palestinian civilians.

In an analysis published by the newspaper on Thursday, he indicated that Israel had failed in the wars it had previously launched against Gaza due to the international community’s reaction to what Palestinian civilians were exposed to. He considered that the war had succeeded so far in “increasing the level of hostility towards the Jews in all parts of the world.”

In this context, military commentator for the Haaretz newspaper, Amos Harel, said that the images coming from Gaza have greatly reduced the level of global sympathy for Israel, which will affect the amount of international legitimacy that Tel Aviv enjoys for continuing its ground operation.

In an analysis published by the newspaper on Thursday, Harel pointed out that the United States has begun sending messages to Israel stating that the lives of civilians must be taken into account, as expressed by US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin by revealing the content of the communications he had with Israeli Security Minister Yoav Galant.

Harel expected that US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, who will arrive in Tel Aviv today, would convey President Joe Biden's position regarding the conduct of the ground operation in the Gaza Strip.