US officials: Continued bombings in Gaza only increasing risks to civilians

Israel has achieved all that it can militarily in Gaza, according to senior American officials, who say continued bombings are only increasing risks to civilians while the possibility of further weakening Hamas has diminished.

With the Biden administration racing to get cease-fire negotiations back on track, a growing number of national security officials across the government said that the Israeli military had severely set back Hamas but would never be able to completely eliminate the group, Caliber.Az reports citing the foreign media.

In many respects, Israel’s military operation has done far more damage against Hamas than US officials had predicted when the war began in October.

Israeli forces can now move freely throughout Gaza, the officials said, and Hamas is bloodied and damaged. Israel has destroyed or seized crucial supply routes from Egypt into Gaza. About 14,000 combatants in Gaza have been killed or captured, the Israeli military said last month.

Defence Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III spoke with the Israeli defence minister, Yoav Gallant, as the two prepared for possible retaliatory strikes by Iran or Hezbollah in Israel.

Mr. Austin and other officials in the Biden administration share Mr. Gallant’s view that a cease-fire agreement that returns the hostages is in Israel’s best interest.

Yaakov Amidror, a retired major general who served as Mr. Netanyahu’s national security adviser, rejected the notion that Israel had nothing more to gain in Gaza through force.

“Israel’s achievements in Gaza are impressive, but they’re far from what should be achieved,” said General Amidror, who is now a fellow at the Jewish Institute for National Security of America. “If Israel evacuates its forces now, within a year, Hamas will be strong again.”

He emphasized that stopping the war now would be a “disaster” for Israel.

Another two to three months of high-intensity fighting in central and southern Gaza are needed, he added. After that phase, Israel could transition to conducting intelligence-based raids and strikes for around a year to take out remaining Hamas fighters and weapons infrastructure before allowing another party to take over the administration of Gaza, he said.