[News] Losses Are 'Unimaginable': Israeli Analysts Offer Somber Assessment of Gaza War

[Anti-Imperialist News]

palestinechronicle.com
<https://www.palestinechronicle.com/losses-are-unimaginable-israeli-analysts-offer-somber-reading-of-gaza-war/>
Losses Are 'Unimaginable': Israeli Analysts Offer Somber Assessment of Gaza
WarJanuary 3, 2025
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The Al-Qassam Brigades reported a series of operations against Israeli
military vehicles in the Gaza Strip. (Photo: video grab)

*By Palestine Chronicle Staff
<https://www.palestinechronicle.com/writers/palestine-chronicle-staff>*

Israeli analysts paint a grim picture of the ongoing Gaza war, highlighting
heavy losses and unresolved challenges.

The Palestinian movement Hamas continues to “resist surrender” in Gaza and
has reportedly “learned to shift to guerrilla warfare,” according to
Israeli analyst Avi Issacharoff.

In an article <https://www.ynet.co.il/news/article/yokra14209288> published
on Thursday in the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, Issacharoff
explained that the Israeli army’s 162nd Division is operating in northern
Gaza, including the Jabaliya refugee camp, in an effort to dismantle Hamas
infrastructure.

“The big problem is that, to do this, you need to strike every house
suspected of containing tunnels or hostile activity,” he said.

The analyst described northern Gaza as a disaster zone, with empty streets
and hardly any stray dogs left, as even they cannot find food.

Israel began a large-scale military offensive in Jabaliya over three months
ago, displacing tens of thousands of Palestinians, destroying countless
buildings, and causing significant casualties.

Palestinians have accused Israel of attempting to occupy the area, turning
it into a buffer zone, and forcing residents to flee through relentless
bombardment and a strict siege that has deprived them of food, water, and
medicine.

However, according to Issacharoff, the Israeli army is also paying a heavy
price in northern Gaza due to stiff Palestinian resistance. “The price that
the generation of young fighters is paying in body and soul during this war
is unimaginable,” he wrote.

According to the analyst, there are three main problems for the Israeli
army in Gaza:

One, it would “take months and months of fighting to finish clearing the
northern Gaza Strip alone.”

Two, Israeli losses are considerable. “Just a few weeks ago,” he wrote, “a
force of 12 soldiers from our Samson Battalion went on an operation and
intercepted an RPG rocket. Four soldiers were killed on the spot.”

Three, according to Issacharoff, “Hamas shows no signs of surrender.”

“Even in the northern cities of the Gaza Strip, attempts to launch rockets
at Israel continue, as do attempts to harm soldiers by small squads of
three or four terrorists (Resistance fighters – PC), or perhaps fewer,” the
analyst said.

Additionally, according to the report, in the areas where the Israeli army
is not operating on the ground, “Hamas is regaining civil and military
control.” In Gaza City, which is only two kilometers south of Jabaliya,
“the organization has effectively reestablished its governmental
capabilities as well as its military command.”

Issacharoff’s remarks match with another analysis
<https://www.maariv.co.il/news/military/article-1160925> published by
former Lt. Col. Amiut Yagur in Maariv on Thursday.

According to Yagur, the Israeli military activity in northern Gaza proves
“beyond any doubt … that even in the field of military capabilities, Israel
has not finished the job and has not yet defeated Hamas.”

Yagur noted that there is an “intolerable gap” between Israel’s “perception
of reality (which is mixed with a dash of wishful thinking) and the reality
itself on the ground.”

*(The Palestine Chronicle)*
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