Yediot Aharonot: The IDF failed to destroy the Palestinian missile system
A prominent Israeli military analyst said, Friday, that the Israeli army had failed to thwart and destroy the Palestinian missile launch system during the recent Israeli military operation against Gaza.
Ron Ben Ishay, a military analyst at Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper, wrote on Friday: “The IDF has re-set the conditions and rules of the game under which the conflict in the south has been conducted for recent decades, and from now on the ball is in the hands of the political leadership in Israel”.
Ben Ishay added, “But, and this is a big one, the IDF failed to thwart and destroy the missile launch system, as many of the main strategic weapons of the hostile organizations in Gaza are still usable, which allows Hamas and the Jihad to threaten Israel”.
He added: “As happened to us with Hezbollah at the end of the Second Lebanon War, it is true that restraint will make Hamas and Jihad think twice, and maybe three times, before launching rockets from the Gaza Strip, but the ability to do so is a fact that Israel must take into account in the future”.
The Israeli media estimated that Hamas has 14 thousand rockets in Gaza, the IDF said that the movement has fired more than 4 thousand of them during the past 11 days.
In a series of data in recent days, the Israeli military said that the Iron Dome system’s success rate in intercepting rockets was 90%.
But, Ben Ishay said, “I allow myself to assume that the IDF is also aware of the need to find a better offensive response to the missile threat”.
He did not provide further details on why he assumed this.
He added, “The failure of protection in Ashkelon, Ashdod, and in the communities in the south not adjacent to the fence (ie the Gaza border) is a serious matter and requires immediate reform”.
Ben Ishay called for “a rapid government plan that will be implemented immediately to provide security and protected areas for all residents of southern Israel and the cities of the Negev, to Ashkelon and beyond”.
Ben Ishai considered that the awareness campaign led by Israel during the operation was less successful than on the military side.
He said, “Hamas recorded some intellectual and political achievements at the beginning of the fighting, when it established itself in the Palestinian public opinion as a defender of Jerusalem and al Aqsa, not only speaking, but also placing the Israelis in shelters”.
He added, “Hamas has succeeded in illuminating and harnessing Palestinian youth, not only in Jerusalem, but also in the West Bank, among Israeli Arabs, as well as in the Palestinian diaspora, especially the Lebanese”.
Since April 13, the situation in the occupied Palestinian territories has exploded as a result of brutal attacks committed by the Israeli police and settlers in the occupied city of Jerusalem, especially the al Aqsa Mosque and the “Sheikh Jarrah” neighborhood, in an attempt to evacuate 12 Palestinian homes and hand them over to settlers.
Tensions in the Gaza Strip increased dramatically after Israel launched a massive military operation in it since May 10, which caused massacres and widespread destruction of buildings and infrastructure.
At dawn, Friday, a cease-fire took effect between the Palestinian factions and Israel, after 11 days of the aggression.
The brutal Israeli aggression on the Palestinian territories and Arab towns in Israel resulted in the death of 263, including 69 children, 40 women, and 17 elderlies, while more than 8,900 were wounded, 90 of whom were classified as very serious.
