Hamas Can’t Be Defeated ‘As An Ideology’: IDF

Israel’s top army spokesman said that Hamas cannot be defeated as an ideology, prompting the government to quickly re-assert that it remains committed to the Palestinian militant group’s destruction.

Hamas Can’t Be Defeated ‘As An Ideology’: IDF

Israel’s top army spokesman said that Hamas cannot be defeated as an ideology, prompting the government to quickly re-assert that it remains committed to the Palestinian militant group’s destruction. “To say that we are going to make Hamas disappear is to throw sand in people’s eyes. If we don’t provide an alternative, in the end, we will have Hamas.”

More than eight months of war, sparked by Hamas’s unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel, have failed to oust the Islamist militants from the Palestinian territory but have brought widespread devastation. “The political and security cabinet headed by Prime Minister Netanyahu defined as one of the goals of the war the destruction of Hamas’ military and governmental capabilities,” his office said in a statement.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive aimed at eliminating Hamas has killed at least 37,396 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu disbanded his war Cabinet Monday, a move that consolidates his influence over the Israel-Hamas war and likely diminishes the odds of a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip anytime soon.

Netanyahu announced the step days after his chief political rival, Benny Gantz, withdrew from the three-member war Cabinet. Gantz, a retired general and member of parliament, was widely seen as a more moderate voice. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has criticised the administration of US President Joe Biden for “withholding weapons” to Israel in recent months as it presses its war on Gaza.

Netanyahu said in a video statement on Tuesday that it was “inconceivable” that the United States had been “withholding weapons and ammunitions to Israel” in recent months. Washington provides $3.8bn in military assistance to Israel annually, and in April, Biden signed a law granting the US ally $17bn in additional aid amid Israel’s war on Gaza. Biden and his top aides often stress their commitment to Israel, but Washington confirmed last month holding up a single shipment of 900kg (2,000 pound) bombs to the Israeli military over concerns about civilian casualties in Israel’s assault on Rafah in southern Gaza.