TEHRAN – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu left no stone in his quest to eliminate Hamas, but he flattened in his face.
During the course of the Gaza conflict, Israeli officials recognized the inability of the army to conquer Hamas.
The former Israeli Army General is the latest to acknowledge the regime’s failed strategy in Gaza.
In a rigorous commentary on Israeli news site Ynet, Jolya Eiland said, “Israel failed in three and a half of the four goals of the war.”
“We are not destroying Hamas’ military power. We are not overthrowing Hamas’ rules. We are unable to bring the residents back to their homes (in Israel) safely. We are accelerating them. As for the return of the fourth goal – we were partially successful,” he said.
Island recognized that Hamas “achieved all of its goals and achieved the main ones of it: to continue the rules in Gaza.”
Island is the architect of Gaza’s infamous plan, presented last September to Netanyahu, known as Bibi.
The “General’s Plan,” also known as the Island Project, sought the targets of Palestinians from northern Gaza, forced hunger and those behind them as “legitimate military targets.”
The Island also proposed a “Subattle or Star-forming” strategy for Israeli forces to pursue.
“If you allow the exit civilian corridor in advance, it is permitted and even recommended to starve the enemy. And that’s exactly what I’m proposing,” he said. Eilan told the Harletts in September.
The plan was intended to defeat the ethnic cleansing north of Hamas and the enclave.
Israeli forces killed nearly 62,000 Palestinians in Gaza during a territorial war for more than 15 months. We reduced the majority of Gaza to tile rubs, but were unable to bring Palestinian resistance to the knees.
Eventually, Israel signed a three-phase ceasefire agreement with Hamas, which came into effect on January 19th.
So far, in the first stage, Hamas has released 21 prisoners in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinians from Israeli prisons.
During the handshake of prisoners’ exchanges, Hamas showed military power that infuriated and humiliated the Israeli leader.
Netanyahu now relies on the threat of resuming war in an attempt to blur domestic criticism of the military’s set-up.