Israeli army morale plummets over 'lasting victory' in Gaza: Report
Nearly five months after Israel launched its campaign of genocide in Gaza, Palestinian resistance fighters continue to fiercely confront the invading troops across the strip
A growing number of Israeli service members, from senior commanders to rank-and-file soldiers, are expressing doubts that a “lasting victory” against the Palestinian resistance in Gaza is an achievable goal, according to interviews conducted by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ).
“Fighting the enemy is like a game of whack-a-mole,” an Israeli reservist fighting with the 98th Division in Gaza's southern city of Khan Younis told the US daily. He said many soldiers believe the government lacks a plan and wonder what their efforts are for. “It will be very hard to destroy Hamas.”
Nearly five months after Tel Aviv launched its campaign of genocide in Gaza with the stated aim to “destroy Hamas,” the Israeli army has destroyed most of the enclave's buildings and infrastructure, killing tens of thousands of civilians in the process, but is nowhere near eradicating the resistance.
Furthermore, the WSJ cites Qatari sources as saying Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar recently told officials from the Palestinian group in Doha: “Don’t worry, we have the Israelis right where we want them.”
The message reportedly added that the Qassam Brigades "were doing fine" and stood at the ready to confront Israel's planned invasion of the southernmost city of Rafah, where over one million displaced Palestinians are taking refuge.
Despite Israeli claims of having killed “12,000 Hamas fighters” since October, the Qassam Brigades and the Quds Brigades – the military wings of Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), respectively – have continued to fiercely confront the invading troops across the entirety of the Gaza Strip.
The WSJ highlights that, after a two-week ceasefire in November, the Palestinian resistance markedly switched its strategy to confront Israeli forces, moving away from large-scale firefights to small-scale ambushes and “zero distance” attacks that have caused great pain to Tel Aviv.
Israel claims only 242 soldiers have lost their lives in Gaza since the start of the ground invasion, plus an extra 300 during Operation Al-Aqsa Flood on 7 October. However, in December, Hebrew media revealed that hospital records contradicted the army's claims about the number of casualties, as Tel Aviv was reportedly undercounting by half.
Moreover, the official numbers of wounded only included soldiers in the army, excluding wounded security personnel such as special reconnaissance fighters and members of SWAT units, the police, Border Police, Shin Bet, and emergency and rescue units like Magen David Adom.
“The human losses announced by the security establishment are usually binding on hundreds of media institutions, and these are allowed to work basically according to this rule. The death toll always comes from one source, and no one questions it," The Cradle’s Palestine Correspondent reported last year.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not backed away from his promise of “total victory” against the Palestinian resistance, ignoring global calls to stop the mass murder of civilians in Gaza. His recently-revealed “day after” plan for Gaza stipulates that Israel will maintain freedom to carry out military and security operations across the strip indefinitely.
Netanyahu also seeks to oversee the total demilitarization of Gaza – excluding weapons "necessary to maintain public order" – and has plans for a "deradicalization" of Gaza's civil, religious, educational, and welfare institutions.
Nevertheless, the WSJ reports that many within the military believe the government’s “reluctance to flesh out a plan for who should govern Gaza after Hamas is leaving a political vacuum that could help Hamas to grow back.”