Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Palestinian sources: Several displaced Palestinians were reportedly injured after being targeted by occupation forces while waiting for aid west of Rafah
Israeli media: A senior European Union official hinted that 'Israel' would be held accountable for violating international law in Gaza
Al-Qassam Brigades spokesperson Abu Obeida: The losses incurred by the occupation today in Khan Younis and Jabalia are an extension of a series of top-tier operations
Al Mayadeen's correspondent in South Lebanon: The invading Israeli force is digging a trench and erecting earthen berms, amid detected activity suggesting preparations to install espionage equipment
Al Mayadeen's correspondent in South Lebanon: An Israeli force breaches the "technical fence" in the Wazzani area
Israeli media: 4 Israeli soldiers killed in the Gaza Strip
Gaza Government Media Office: Starved citizens are tempted to head to American-Israeli centers and then are deliberately shot
Gaza Government Media Office: The toll at US-Israeli aid distribution centers is as follows: 110 martyred, 583 wounded, and 9 missing
Gaza Government Media Office: 8 starved civilians were killed and 61 others were injured by the gunfire of Israeli occupation forces and an American security company in Rafah
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: Three martyrs, injured in Israeli drone strike on phone charging station west of Khan Younis, southern Gaza.

'Israel' unable to eliminate Hamas, will have to withdraw: Reports

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: Israeli Media
  • 22 Dec 2023 22:41
  • 23 Shares
5 Min Read

An Israeli journalist says the Israeli occupation forces will not be able to eliminate Hamas and are likely to have to withdraw before their objectives are completed.

  • x
  • 'Israel' unable to eliminate Hamas, will have to withdraw: Reports
    A screengrab from a video published by the Al-Qassam Brigades Military Media depicting the aftermath of a hit with an ATGM on an unarmored Israeli jeep in Gaza in December 2023 (Military Media)

The Israeli occupation forces may have to leave the Gaza Strip before their chief military goal, the complete elimination of the Hamas Resistance movement is achieved, the Israeli Ynet website said.

Israeli journalist and political and military affairs analyst Ronen Bergman wrote that he spoke with a senior government official on the condition of anonymity, with the latter going on a rant about the Israeli occupation's invasion of the Gaza Strip.

The official said he feels nauseous and disgusted after every talk he has with several officials from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government, namely due to the instructions he receives regarding the ongoing invasion, whose goals the official said were the "destruction of the infrastructure, capabilities, and rule of Hamas", as well as the release of all the captives.

The invasion, the official said, was launched in a bid to pressure Hamas' leader in the Gaza Strip, Yahya al-Sinwar, to reach a prisoner swap deal and release the captives.

Reportedly, despite the many setbacks and failures, Israeli officials insist that the ground invasion should continue "both to achieve the first goal, the dismantling of the [Resistance] organizations, and also the second: to put enough pressure on al-Sinwar for him to capitulate and agree to a deal that Israel can accept."

The Israeli journalist argued that this is reminiscent of the situation before the 2006 war on Lebanon, wherein they had claimed in the days before the aggression that they had enough firepower to completely disable and destroy Hezbollah's capabilities to attack Israeli targets. 

The Israelis claimed that Hezbollah only had a few Katyushas and could not get to the Israeli occupation forces. In reality, he said, it turned out that there were Katyushas and much, much more.

"It is not about hindsight or a conclusion that one could only reach after the fact," he said, saying the media warned ahead of the invasion of Gaza against misleading the Israelis about the ease of conducting the land aggression.

He stressed that whoever planned for the Israeli occupation to maintain a presence in Gaza lacked intellect and general information about such events that had taken place previously either with the Israeli occupation or elsewhere around the world.

According to Bergman, the world will not allow the Israeli occupation to stay in Gaza; the international pressure, he said, accompanied by the number of soldiers killed in action "from a faltering army" at the hands of the Resistance fighters who managed to regroup "will oblige the Israeli forces to withdraw much, much earlier."

The military affairs expert did not at all shy away from saying that the Israeli occupation forces were likely to end their first round of armed combat without achieving the first goal of their aggression on Gaza.

Related News

Trump says China will let rare earth elements flow after call with Xi

Security fears stall massive UAE data hub deal with US tech giants

He said the IOF would likely withdraw without completely destroying the Palestinian Resistance's rocket capabilities and significantly damaging its tunnel network.

Bergman noted that it had been clear since the beginning that the Israeli occupation forces would not be able to return their captives through the force of arms.

The Israeli occupation was senselessly bombing Gaza for nine days before Netanyahu's cabinet, and under immense public pressure, added the matter of bringing back the captives to the goals of the aggression. 

Israeli officials have been for months saying that a ground operation would help in the effort of taking back the captives. However, "the experience from weeks of fighting proves that the ground maneuver serving as an accelerator for the release of the captives [...] was not quite accurate."

He also touched on how many Israeli captives, upon their return, censured the Israeli government for how the indiscriminate bombardment endangered their lives.

The analyst claimed that al-Sinwar was expected to "fold" during the fighting in Khan Yunis, "when the sword was on his neck", and agree to terms he previously rejected. However, the complete opposite happened with the Israeli occupation forces exhausting their invasion when they were still far from the area.

"Israel folded, abandoned the original outline, and is ready for a completely different deal, perhaps like the one it rightfully refused [previously]," he added, about a prisoner exchange deal propped up by Hamas earlier.

In the conclusion, Bergman underlined that while the Israeli occupation managed to hurt the Hamas Resistance movement, it is still very far from eliminating it.

Some, he says, believe that the Israeli occupation may suddenly be interested in reaching a deal because its aggression might have to stop within two weeks due to pressure from the United States.

"Even the hawkish linemen in the security establishment should not oppose the deal; quite the contrary: a deal would be an optimistic end act to the war, much more pleasant than if the Americans simply told Israel to stop and withdraw," he maintained.

Upon asking the senior Israeli official what the game plan was now, he said that the terrible blow dealt by the Resistance on October 7 created a feeling of a need for revenge to the magnitude of what happened. 

The shock generated by the Resistance and the terrible need for revenge among the Israeli officials made them feel like they did not need to plan ahead and that this was something they were inoculated against.

The Israeli occupation, the official said, only has two choices at this point, and while he did not go into what they are exactly, he said they were "cruel" and "devilish".

  • United States
  • Occupied Palestine
  • Palestine
  • Israel
  • Hezbollah
  • Israeli occupation
  • Lebanon
  • Gaza
War on Gaza

War on Gaza

Most Read

Lebanon's PM Nawaf Salam meets with US envoy Morgan Ortagus in Beirut on April 5, 2025 (Dalati Nohra via AP)AP)

Morgan Ortagus to exit US role in Lebanon amid policy shift

  • Politics
  • 1 Jun 2025
A Palestinian woman mourns as she embraces the body of her daughter Mayar Abu Odeh, 8, who was killed in an Israeli army strike on Gaza. at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, Wednesday, June 4, 2025. (AP)

French port workers block arms shipment to 'Israel' amid Gaza genocide

  • Politics
  • 4 Jun 2025
It may well be due to the longstanding relationship between MI6 and HTS, via Inter Mediate, that Britain was the first Western country to recognise their assumption of government in Syria. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Zeinab El-Hajj)

How MI6 helped HTS seize Syria

  • Opinion
  • 31 May 2025
Palestinians struggle to get donated food at a community kitchen in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Monday, June 2, 2025. (AP)

Boston Consulting Group withdraws from GHF

  • Palestine
  • 3 Jun 2025

Coverage

All
War on Gaza

Read Next

All
https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/pentagon-chief--nato-likely-to-back-trump-s-5--defence-spend
Politics

Europe spent $3 trillion on defense, but got little in return - FT

Power, parties, and scandal: Trump’s ties to Epstein: Telegraph
Europe

Power, parties, and scandal: Trump’s ties to Epstein - The Telegraph

Eilat port as seen from the sea, occupied Palestine, March 12 2009 (wikimedia commons)
Politics

YAF operations forced 80% plunge in Eilat port revenues in 2024

EU backs International Criminal Court after US sanctions judges
Europe

EU backs International Criminal Court after US sanctions judges

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS