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<h1 class="gmail-reader-title">Assassinations can't end Resistance, no image of victory for 'Israel'</h1>
<div class="gmail-credits gmail-reader-credits">Al Mayadeen English</div>
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<div class="gmail-reader-estimated-time" dir="ltr">March 20, 2024<br></div>
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<div class="gmail-moz-reader-content gmail-reader-show-element"><div id="gmail-readability-page-1" class="gmail-page"><p>An
Israeli intelligence expert says that history has proven that the
assassination of Resistance leaders only increases the groups' strength
and determination.</p><img src="cid:ii_ltzukdmi0" alt="d96ce659-f54e-4d33-983a-32b907e5214b.jpg" width="450" height="298"><br><div><ul id="gmail-content-slick-0"><div aria-hidden="false"><li>
Palestinian Resistance fighters of Hamas' al-Qassam Brigades take part in a gathering in Gaza City on January 31, 2016. (<em>AFP</em>)
</li></div></ul>
<p>Assassinating Resistance leaders has proven to be a failed policy to <a href="https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/-israel--failed-to-find-an-alternative-for-hamas--israeli-me">eliminate or defeat</a> their groups, a piece published by Israeli newspaper <em>Haaretz </em>concluded.</p>
<p>Commenting on recent Israeli claims that they assassinated Hamas'
senior leader Marwan Issa, Yossi Melman, an Israeli intelligence
analyst, said that this course of action will not eliminate the
movement, emphasizing that Hamas is deeply rooted in Palestinian
society; in the West Bank, Gaza, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and even
outside the Middle East.</p>
<p>He pointed out that the most common Israeli illusion is that
"decapitation" will help "make the Palestinian problem disappear," a
belief held by many, even in the security and military establishments.</p>
<p><strong>Read more: <a href="https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/israeli-forces-failed-on-october-7--halevi-says-amid-new-row">Israeli forces failed on October 7, Halevi says amid new row</a></strong></p>
<h2>Israelis patting themselves on their back</h2>
<p>With the brutal war on Gaza nearing the 6-month mark, the Resistance
shows no signs that it will be "raising its hands" and surrendering,
rather, it has continued its fight, the writer added.</p>
<p>Additionally, the movement's determination is evident in the fact
that its fighters have managed to return to areas that the Israeli army
claimed to have occupied in Gaza, most notably in the northern and
central parts of the Strip.</p>
<p>On the other hand, the Israeli army intentionally exaggerates the
ranks of Resistance leaders assassinated, or their position within their
groups, aiming to pat itself on the back and inflate the extent of its
success against Hamas.</p>
<p><strong>Read more: <a href="https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/-israel--wants-prisoner-swap-without--paying-price---resista">'Israel' wants prisoner swap without 'paying price': Resistance source</a></strong></p>
<p>However, the reality on the ground is more complex, according to
Melman, as the Resistance has inflicted many losses against the Israeli
army in terms of <a href="https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/-israel--admits-to-death-of-soldier-5-months-later">soldiers and officers</a>, with hundreds killed since the start of the invasion of Gaza and several thousands injured as well.</p>
<p>Moreover, there are "invisible" injuries, as many in the Israeli army
suffer from post-traumatic stress disorders, which may manifest months
or years after the end of the fighting, as per the piece.</p>
<p>Furthermore, it has been proven that one of the hypotheses that the
occupation has been promoting, that senior Hamas leaders "hide with
prisoners in tunnels to use them as human shields," is not true, Melman
said.</p>
<p><strong>Read more: <a href="https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/israeli-forces-execute-50-palestinians-in-al-shifa--includin">Israeli forces execute 50 Palestinians in Al-Shifa, including children</a></strong></p>
<h2>No military victory</h2>
<p>The <em>Haaretz</em> report added that for decades, many Israeli
governments and security and military institutions have been "fond of
using the method" of assassinations. However, the entity's top
ministries, in addition to the security, military, and intelligence
establishments, have "failed to formulate an assassination doctrine."</p>
<p>Melman affirmed that it must be remembered that assassinations "have a
limited and short-term impact" in all cases. In this context, it
referred to the assassination of Hezbollah leader Imad Mughniyeh in 2008
in the Syrian capital, Damascus, in a joint operation by Mossad and the
CIA.</p>
<p>He also recalled the United States' assassination of IRGC's al-Quds Force commander, martyred <a href="https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/Soleimani's%20impact%20on%20Al-Aqsa%20Flood%20can't%20go%20unnoticed:%20Hamas%20official">General Qassem Soleimani</a>,
in Baghdad in 2020, pointing out that it "did not lead to a strategic
shift, as Hezbollah and the Quds Force continue their work with strength
and determination."</p>
<p>In light of this, the intelligence expert concluded that "Israel
should not revel in assassinations... it must understand that they are
not everything, and they are not a substitute for strategy."</p>
<p><strong>Read more: <a href="https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/-israel--lost-the-war-against-hamas--res--general-yitzhak-br">'Israel' lost the war against Hamas: Res. General Yitzhak Brik</a></strong></p>
<p>The war on Gaza "will end without an image of victory for Israel, and
even the assassination of Hamas leaders will not change this reality,"
Melman stressed.</p>
<p>"The only way to extricate Israel from the quagmire of Gaza is a <a href="https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/-israel--losing-on-several-fronts--nyt">multi-arena</a>
strategic political action," in Gaza and the West Bank within occupied
Palestine, regionally in the Middle East, as well as on the
international level.</p></div></div></div>
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