It is not Hamas that is collapsing, but Israel

An anti-government protest calling for a hostages deal, in Jerusalem on 2 September 2024

Yitzhak Brik writes in Haaretz on 3 September 2024:

Some argue that withdrawing army forces from Gaza after signing a hostage deal with Hamas would be the same as being defeated and surrendering. They argue that it will return, like a boomerang, in the form of another attack by Hamas and the casualties will be 10 times those we suffered on October 7.

This claim is grounded in a fundamental misunderstanding of what is taking place in the Gaza Strip. It is fueled by clichés spread by the political and military echelons to justify their actions and gain public support and legitimacy to continue a failed war.

In fact, it is those very same people declaring that a cessation of hostilities means our defeat and surrender who are bringing the military closer to collapse and the state to its downfall. The war’s goals – “bringing Hamas to collapse” and “freeing all hostages by military pressure” – have not been achieved. If we continue fighting in Gaza by raiding and re-raiding the same targets, not only won’t we bring Hamas to collapse, but we’ll collapse ourselves. Not too long from now we will also be unable to carry out those repeated raids, because with every passing day the Israel Defense Forces grows weaker and the number of dead and wounded in action among our soldiers rises. Hamas, in contrast, has already replenished its ranks with 17- and 18-year-olds.

IDF reservists are already voting through action, with many no longer consenting to being redrafted again and again. Conscripted soldiers are exhausted and are losing professional skills for lack of training; some leave courses before completing them. Israel’s economy, international relations and social cohesiveness are severely damaged by this war of attrition against both Hamas and Hezbollah, a war that will go on in the north and south so long as the Israeli military remains in Gaza. The need to concentrate forces on other fronts – Lebanon or the West Bank, due to terrorist activity – will also force the military to pull forces out of Gaza and send them to various flash points. This is because the IDF does not have enough forces to fight a multifront war.

In other words, the day will come when the IDF will no longer be able to remain in the Gaza Strip because Hamas will be in full control of it – both in the underground tunnel city that stretches hundreds of kilometers, and above ground. The number of tunnels the IDF destroyed amounts to just a few percent. The same is true for the tunnels under the Philadelphi and Netzarim corridors; Hamas is using them even now to push weapons from Sinai into the northern and southern sectors of the Gaza Strip. In this situation, the army is unable to defeat it and bring it to collapse.

If we stop raiding because the military is weak and because we have no other choice, or if we move our forces to other areas, our enemies will declare with fanfare that the Israeli military has thrown in the towel, left Gaza and surrendered.

Better, then, to be smart and take the medicine before we are sick. We must now agree to a deal to release the hostages. This may be the only way to bring them home. We must stop the war in Gaza, which may very well also bring about a cessation of fighting with Hezbollah, as well as reducing chances for a multifront regional war, for which we are entirely unprepared.

In this peaceful interval we will rebuild the military, the economy, Israel’s international relations and its social cohesiveness, we will replace the entire political and military branches which are all complicit in that terrible failure, and we will set out in a new direction. This is the way. There is no other.

Maj. Gen. Yitzhak Brik served in the Armored Corps as a brigade, division and troops commander, and was the commander of the IDF military colleges. For 10 years he was the Israel Defense Forces ombudsman.

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