Its generals botched the strategy, and discipline among troops has broken down
) 98th Division withdrew from Khan Younis, the second-largest city in Gaza, exactly six months after Hamas’s attack of October 7th. Israel had the sympathy and broad support of much of the West when it sent its army to war with Hamas. Half a year later, much of Gaza lies in ruins. Over 33,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to the Gazan health ministry. The uprooted civilian population faces famine. Israel has lost the battle for global public opinion.
But Israel’s army has, at best, only half-achieved the war objectives of its politicians: destroying Hamas’s military capabilities; removing it from power in Gaza; and rescuing the hostages. Theclaims to have killed about 12,000 militants. With the thousands it has wounded or captured, that represents around half of the pre-war estimate of 40,000. Hamas’s military capabilities have been dramatically curbed.
The lack of enforcement of even these looser rules of engagement has been such that accusations that Israel has broken the laws of war are plausible. “The standing orders don’t matter in the field,” says one veteran reserve officer who has mostly been in Gaza since October. “Just about any battalion commander can decide that whoever moves in his sector is a terrorist or that buildings should be destroyed because they could have been used by Hamas.
Major-General Tibon’s fiercest criticism is reserved for Mr Netanyahu: “ has been running this war to serve his political interests—keeping his nationalist base happy and preventing his far-right extremist parties from leaving his government.” Serving generals share this view.
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