[News] Israel reaches 'end of the line' in Gaza, will 'never defeat' Hamas: US officials

[Anti-Imperialist News]

 Israel reaches 'end of the line' in Gaza, will 'never defeat' Hamas: US
officials

Despite close to one year of war, Hamas and its tunnel network remain
intact alongside several other resistance factions in Gaza

News Desk <https://thecradle.co/authors/news-desk-9>

AUG 15, 2024 -
https://thecradle.co/articles/israel-reaches-end-of-the-line-in-gaza-will-never-defeat-hamas-us-officials
(Photo credit: Mustafa Hassona/AA/Getty Images)

The Israeli army has reached the “end of the line” in its war on the Gaza
Strip, the *New York Times*
<https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/14/us/politics/israel-military-gaza-war.html>
(NYT) wrote in a 14 May report.

Senior US officials told NYT: “Israel has achieved all that it can
militarily in Gaza … continued bombings are only increasing risks to
civilians while the possibility of further weakening Hamas has diminished.”

The report adds that a “growing number” of US national security officials
believe that Israel has “severely set back” Hamas but will never be able to
completely defeat it.

Retired Israeli general Yaakov Amidror said, “If Israel evacuates its
forces now, within a year, Hamas will be strong again.”

The resistance movement has been “diminished,” said the former head of US
CENTCOM, Joseph L Votel, but added that the goal of releasing Israel’s
captives in Gaza is impossible through war and can only happen through
ceasefire and exchange negotiations.

“An array of administration officials are fanning out across the region to
try to nail down a Gaza ceasefire deal and possibly avert a retaliatory
attack by Iran and its allies in response to the recent Israeli
assassinations of senior Iranian-backed proxy leaders,” US officials told
NYT.

Yet Israel and its prime minister have been consistently obstructing
<https://thecradle.co/articles-id/26402> the negotiations.

US officials also claimed that “Hamas has been so damaged in the war that
its officials have told international negotiators it is willing to give up
civilian control of Gaza to an independent group after a cease-fire is in
place.”

“How long Hamas will be willing to give up a measure of its power will
depend on what happens after a ceasefire, and what concessions Israel is
prepared to make,” they said.

It is worth noting that the Palestinian resistance factions, including
Hamas, have all rejected US–Israeli–Arab plans for international missions
in post-war Gaza – and have repeatedly affirmed that what comes next for
the strip will be the decision of the Palestinian people.

The NYT report is not the first US assessment determining that Israel has
been unable to defeat Hamas and its armed wing, the Qassam Brigades,
militarily.

An extensive CNN report from earlier in August says Israel has taken out
only three of the Qassam Brigades’ 24 battalions
<https://thecradle.co/articles-id/26275> in 10 months, contrary to Israeli
claims.

US intelligence has also estimated that the resistance group and its large
network of tunnels remain intact <https://thecradle.co/articles-id/25020>.

Several other factions also remain entrenched across Gaza and consistently
confront Israeli troops.
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