“Israeli” Army Chief: Hamas Not Defeated; Military Overstretched

By Staff, Agencies

“Israel’s” new chief of Staff Eyal Zamir warned that the “Israeli” armed forces lack the manpower and resources to fulfill the entity’s expansive goals in the besieged Gaza Strip, saying that Hamas remains in control of the Gaza Strip even a year and a half after the outbreak of the war.

“Military-only strategies cannot fulfill all objectives in Gaza, particularly in the absence of a complementary diplomatic track,” Zamir told the entity’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his cabinet in a recent meeting.

The “Israeli” army has called for capturing new zones in Gaza, mainly as an expansion of the so-called buffer zones. But many in “Israel” have warned that successfully implementing this could take a considerably long period of time.

Hundreds of “Israeli” reserve soldiers and veterans have already signed petitions demanding an end to the Gaza war and the return of the captives through a prisoner swap with Hamas.

Netanyahu has threatened to dismiss active-duty soldiers who signed the petitions.

The military has also been facing a shortage of soldiers due to the exemption of ultra-Orthodox Jews and the reluctance and the battle fatigue of the regular troops.

Figures released by “Israeli” media showed that the current participation rates in combat units within the reservists stood at 60%.

“There is concern that those numbers will not improve in the event of a broader offensive,” a military source was quoted as saying.