Israeli masses have “lied” about their progress against Hamas, and senior military commanders have said they have warned that the Palestinian movement will not be defeated for years.
In an interview with YNET released Friday, the unnamed policeman stressed that dismantling Hamas would be a “boring” task that takes up to five years, and that the military would constantly need to return to Gaza and “mow the grass.”
“In today’s populist era, we are given lies and spins before October 7th and every battle with Hamas,” the commander said.
Hamas still maintains Gaza’s “large infrastructure,” he explained. He said the fight with the group wasn’t over.
“This is a job that needs to be continued for five years to maintain results. It doesn’t matter whether the enemy is called Hamas, Islamic jihad or any other name,” he added.
“It is a shame that the public is being misled to think this will be over soon.
“This is a continuous battle, like Judea and Samaria (occupied West Bank) where the battle continues.”
The report says the Army claims great progress in killing Palestinian fighters, destroying tunnels and targeting Hamas infrastructure, but these results indicate that the group is far from defeat.
“These results mean Hamas is still standing, and its command and control capabilities may be limited and damaged, but it remains operational,” the report states.
As Israel broke the ceasefire and resumed its war with Gaza on March 18, the YNET Report paints a slow picture of military progress.
The Army said it had deployed four to five divisions, but YNET reported that only a limited number of soldiers were directly involved in the battle.
It was announced that “it will create the impression that tens of thousands of soldiers were fighting in Gaza.”
The reality is that ground operations are “limited and restricted” with battalion-sized units working slightly.
Most of the battle is concentrated in the suburbs of major cities in the Gaza Strip.
“We’re going too slowly, too transparent and in a bent way,” the two senior officers told YNET.
“We are still working on surrounding areas like Zaytoun and Shujaiya, waiting for the green light from political leadership to move westwards in the city centre.”