Hamas won, Israeli army faces collapse, retired Israeli general says
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Yitzhak Brik says Hamas won in Gaza, slams the IOF leadership, and warns that the Israeli occupation is unprepared for a multi-front war amid rising regional threats.
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Israeli soldiers stand in a group hug as they mourn Master Sgt. (res.) Asaf Cafri, who was killed in a ground operation in the Gaza Strip, during his funeral service in the Gezer regional council of occupied Palestine, April 27, 2025. (AP)
Retired Israeli general and former commissioner for soldier complaints, Yitzhak Brik, has delivered a scathing assessment of the occupation's ongoing war on Gaza, warning that the Israeli regime now faces an eighth front, Yemen, amid escalating regional threats and internal military dysfunction.
In an interview published by Maariv, Brik declared that Hamas had "effectively won" the battle in Gaza, accusing the political and military leadership of deceiving the Israeli public about the war's realities.
He emphasized that the Israeli regime's war objectives have not been achieved, and instead, the occupation is entangled in a widening regional conflict.
Only 10-25% of Hamas tunnels destroyed
Brik revealed that only a fraction of Hamas' tunnel infrastructure, between 10% and 25%, has been destroyed, asserting that the Palestinian Resistance had fully restored its military capabilities and maintains a force of approximately 30,000 fighters.
He further stated that cross-border tunnels linking the Sinai Peninsula to Gaza remain operational, allowing arms to be smuggled into the besieged territory.
"The Rafah Brigade and other Hamas units have not been eliminated," Brik said, directly challenging the official narrative from the Israeli occupation forces about their supposed progress in Gaza.
Sharp criticism of Eyal Zamir's leadership
Brik directed pointed criticism at newly appointed Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir, describing him as a "puppet in Netanyahu's hands." He dismissed Zamir's approach, relying on military pressure to secure the release of captives in Gaza, as an illusion detached from reality.
He noted that Zamir had once expressed doubts about the war's direction, but now supports prolonging the conflict despite knowing it is ineffective.
Brik warned that the continuation of the war would only lead to more Israeli casualties, jeopardize the fate of captives, and erode military readiness for future threats.
Mounting strategic threats
Brik listed a series of grave strategic threats that he believes the Israeli occupation forces are ill-prepared to confront.
These include the possibility of a military alliance between Turkey and Syria, arms smuggling across the Jordanian border, and a potential military engagement by Egypt.
He also raised the alarm over a broader regional escalation, including the prospect of thousands of missiles and drones being launched by Iran and its allies.
Tensions in the occupied West Bank, the continued presence of Hamas and Hezbollah, and the rise of extremism within Israeli society itself were also identified as severe challenges.
A call for immediate reassessment
Brik concluded with a dire warning: the Israeli occupation forces were not equipped to fight a multi-front war. He urged the regime to conduct a comprehensive strategic reassessment and to abandon what he called "media-driven delusions" that distort public perception and cloud sound decision-making.
"The danger is real, and ignoring it will only accelerate our collapse," he said.
At the core of the military's faltering is increasing dissent within "Israel's" military and intelligence circles over Netanyahu’s embattled government.
Increasing internal rows
On April 21, Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar submitted two documents to the Supreme Court, one of which was made public, in which he accused Netanyahu of firing him over his refusal to show political loyalty, particularly regarding criminal investigations involving Netanyahu’s aides.
