New York Times reports that Israhell is losing the war in Gaza

[yankeedoodle]

Israel losing war in Gaza, commanders admit

Israel is losing its war against the Palestinian resistance in Gaza, senior commanders have told The New York Times.

"After more than 100 days of war, Israel's limited progress in dismantling Hamas has raised doubts within the military's high command about the near-term feasibility of achieving the country's principal wartime objectives: eradicating Hamas and also liberating the Israeli hostages still in Gaza," the newspaper reported on Saturday.  https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/20/world/middleeast/israel-hamas-hostages-strategy.html

"Israel has established control over a smaller part of Gaza at this point in the war than it originally envisaged in battle plans from the start of the invasion, which were reviewed by The New York Times," the paper added.

The Israeli military leaders admit, according to the Times, that their advances have "been stymied by a Hamas infrastructure that was more sophisticated than Israeli intelligence officers previously assessed."

Failure on the battlefield has led Israeli commanders "to conclude that the freedom of more than 100 Israeli hostages still in Gaza can be secured only through diplomatic rather than military means," according to the Times.

Many of the Israelis remaining in Gaza are in fact military personnel – prisoners of war.

The unnamed Israeli generals who spoke to the Times consider that "a drawn-out battle intended to fully dismantle Hamas would most likely cost the lives of the Israeli hostages held in Gaza," the paper states.

The purpose of the leaks appears to increase the pressure on the Tel Aviv government led by Benjamin Netanyahu to end the war and seek a negotiated way out of Israel's predicament.

The Times cites one expert to bolster the Israeli generals' analysis.

"Basically, it's a stalemate," Andreas Krieg, a lecturer in security studies at King's College London told the Times. "It's not an environment where you can free hostages."

"If you go into the tunnels and you try to free them with special forces, or whatever, you will kill them," Krieg added. "You either will kill them directly – or indirectly, in booby traps or in a firefight."

The complete Electronic Intifada report, which contains videos and many links, can be read here:  https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/israel-losing-war-gaza-commanders-admit