Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday total victory in Gaza was within reach, rejecting the latest offer from Hamas for a ceasefire to ensure the return of hostages still held in the besieged enclave.

DOHA, Feb 7 (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday total victory in Gaza was within reach, rejecting the latest offer from Hamas for a ceasefire to ensure the return of hostages still held in the besieged enclave.

Netanyahu renewed a pledge to destroy the Palestinian Islamist movement, saying there was no alternative for Israel but bringing about the collapse of Hamas.

“The day after is the day after Hamas. All of Hamas,” he told a press conference, insisting that total victory against Hamas was the only solution to the Gaza war.

  • Milk_Sheikh@lemm.eeEnglish
    122·
    9 months ago

    Wearing the military strategy hat for a second, how exactly can he/the IDF achieve “total victory” over Hamas and de-militarize Gaza?

    • Can the IDF actually physically achieve that goal (irrespective of laws or decency, just raw power) given the loss of people, machinery, and support from allies already felt?
    • Can the Israeli state afford that kind of protracted engagement, given the use of reservists causes a huge negative cash flow with lost taxes and soldier payouts? War is expensive enough just from materiel and consumables.
    • Can they afford to be occupied in Gaza that long, while Hezbollah continues to fire missiles across the northern border?

    No, or not at least without putting the Israeli state as a whole at significant risk. It’s absurd to pretend that Gaza can be demilitarized, even if the IDF demolishes every house they can see. Before Hamas there was Fatah, before Fatah there was the fedayeen, before the fedayeen… you cannot kill the ideal of Palestinian statehood without a genocide.