Israeli reserve Major General Yitzhak Brick on Thursday described the plan to occupy Gaza City as “unrealistic” and warned that it would lead to “disastrous consequences” and would not defeat Hamas.
اضافة اعلان
On Wednesday evening, the Israeli army launched an operation named “Gideon’s Vehicles 2” to fully occupy northern Gaza City, escalating the already dire humanitarian situation for Palestinians.
In an article for the Hebrew newspaper Maariv, Brick, a former commander of the armored brigade and ex-head of military colleges, said the plan to occupy Gaza City in its entirety is “unrealistic.” He noted that the plan was “imposed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the army, despite strong opposition from Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir.”
Brick highlighted that Zamir had warned the cabinet that the plan is “a death trap for soldiers and hostages,” referring to the estimated 48 Israeli hostages in Gaza, 20 of whom are reportedly alive. Meanwhile, around 11,100 Palestinians remain imprisoned in Israeli jails, facing torture, starvation, and medical neglect, with many deaths reported by Palestinian and Israeli human rights and media reports.
What Could Happen?
Brick explained that “when the army enters Gaza City, Hamas will simply relocate its control centers elsewhere, and its operations in parts of the city will continue unaffected.”
He added: “The army will incur casualties among its forces, and hostages will die in the tunnels. Moreover, the army cannot remain in the area as a permanent military authority, as Hamas will pursue it underground, and Israel does not have sufficient troops to maintain long-term control of Gaza.”
Brick warned that occupation could be catastrophic: “One million Palestinians may flee the city, and fighting will cause civilian casualties among those uninvolved, many of whom will remain in Gaza.” He further noted that such outcomes could alienate Israel’s remaining international supporters, including U.S. Republicans.
He stressed that “Israel will not defeat Hamas while attempting to control most of Gaza,” adding that “it risks losing its last global supporters, increasing extremism within Israeli society, and worsening education, healthcare, and the economy.” Brick compared misjudging limits to the U.S. experience in the Vietnam War, which came at a high cost.
Heavy Losses
According to Brick, “the only way to eliminate Hamas is to increase ground forces that can remain in occupied areas for an extended period.” This includes adding units, advanced technology, and effective explosives to destroy hundreds of kilometers of tunnels. Without these capabilities, the army cannot hold territory for long, resulting in repeated air raids in the same locations, which have failed to defeat Hamas and caused heavy army losses.
Fabricated Narratives
Brick criticized political and military leaders for telling the public “fantasy stories” to justify the ongoing war, such as claims that Israel destroyed over 50 percent of tunnels, closed tunnels crossing Sinai, killed 20,000 Hamas fighters, and dismantled its military infrastructure.
In reality, he said, “less than 24 percent of tunnels were destroyed, actually less than 10 percent, and fewer than 10,000 Hamas fighters were killed—not 20,000. There are almost no direct confrontations, as Hamas operates guerrilla-style: emerging secretly from tunnels, planting explosives on roads and in homes, and returning underground.”
Brick emphasized that “the Hamas ‘army’ has not been defeated. Hamas is not a conventional army and does not have a military infrastructure,” calling the official claims about destroying its brigades and infrastructure “ridiculous clichés.”
—(Agencies)
