04 June 2024; MEMO: A former chief of the Israeli Foreign Intelligence Service (Mossad) confirmed yesterday that Tel Aviv cannot defeat Hamas and Islamic Jihad militarily.
Since 7 October, Israel has waged a genocidal war on the Gaza Strip, leaving more than 118,000 Palestinians killed or injured, over 70 per cent children and women, and about 10,000 missing amid massive destruction and famine.
Writing in Israel’s Maariv newspaper under the title ‘The Bitter Truth: Hamas and Jihad will not be defeated by military actions’, Danny Yatom said: “We are unable to achieve the goals of the war in the north [Lebanon] and the south [Gaza].”
“There are still many hostages in the Gaza tunnels, thousands of displaced [Israelis] who are far from returning to their homes, and Hezbollah is destroying our towns in the north.”
Israel estimates that there are 128 Israeli prisoners of war held in Gaza, while Hamas announced that more than 70 of them were killed in random raids launched by Israel, which holds at least 9,500 Palestinians in its prisons, many without charge or trial.
Yatom continued: “Despite the Israeli army’s military presence throughout the Gaza Strip, Hamas and Islamic Jihad will not be defeated by military actions, and the hostages will not return under military pressure without political arrangements.”
