Israel: Military operation in Rafah attack didn’t achieve its goals

Israeli Reserve Colonel Michael Milstein confirmed that the head of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Yahya Sinwar, “hasn’t changed, nor has he changed his positions, nor has the recent military operations in Rafah affected him”.

Speaking to Israel’s Channel 12, Milstein said, “There are two things that are crucial for Sinwar; The first is the issue of the return of the population from the south, and the second is the Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, while all other things can be bargained”.

“Sinwar didn’t change in the wake of the military operations in Rafah, but remained committed to the central goal, which is to survive and to say that Hamas survived after the end of the war,” he said.

In the context, the former head of Aman, Aharon Zeevi Farkash, told Channel 12, that “he hasn’t set a final goal for this war eight months after its outbreak,” noting that the army cannot work without knowing its final goal.

“All these things lead Israel to this deterioration in the system of comprehensive relations, including political and military,” he said.

“We’re at a crucial point in this regard, because of what is happening around us, and also because of what is happening against Hezbollah, which has an impact on how we end the war,” he added.

“We should have announced the end of the intensive battle in the Gaza Strip, and that we have other goals, we haven’t forgotten what is happening to us in the north,” he said.

Former Knesset member Ofer Shelah said the problem with the Rafah battle is that it doesn’t give Israel progress in anything toward war goals, eliminating the security threat against it from the Gaza Strip, and returning prisoners.

Earlier, the New York Times reported that Sinwar’s survival after about 8 months is a symbol of the failure of the Israeli war.

“Even as Israeli officials sought to kill him, they had to negotiate with him, albeit indirectly,” the New York Times reported.

Earlier, the head of Israel’s National Security Council, Tzachi Hanegbi, stressed that Israel hadn’t achieved any of the goals of its war on Gaza.

Hanegbi briefed Israel’s Foreign Affairs and Security Committee, telling Knesset members, “We’ve not achieved any of the strategic objectives of the war, so that there are no conditions for a prisoner deal, we haven’t brought down Hamas, and we haven’t enabled the residents of the envelope to return to their homes safely”.

A few days ago, the Israeli army reserve general, Yitzhak Brik, stressed that what is happening in Gaza at the moment is a war of attrition, warning that prolonging it will lead to the collapse of the army and economy in Israel.

Brick acknowledged the inability of the Israeli army to defeat Hamas in the Gaza Strip, noting that the Strip represents one square out of six.

The remarks come amid growing doubts about the goals of Israel’s ongoing war on Gaza, as Israeli occupying forces return to the old battlefields in the Strip.

In the eighth month of the war, the Israeli army returned to fighting in areas in the northern Gaza Strip, where Israeli soldiers are among the dead and wounded, after the occupation claimed that they had been cleared.

This highlight growing questions about the government’s stated goal of eliminating Hamas and concern in Israel that the lack of a clear strategic plan for Gaza will leave the group in control of the Strip.