Falconpowers – Former Israeli Justice Minister Haim Ramon said that the war waged by Benjamin Netanyahu’s government on the Gaza Strip “ended in a strategic defeat” for Israel.
In response to a question about whether the war had ended, Ramon said, “Unfortunately, yes. Unfortunately, there is a tactical victory, but there is also a strategic defeat. We have not achieved any of the goals set by the government,” according to the Hebrew newspaper “Maariv.”
He added, “The ground maneuver (attack) started in the wrong way and only headed north (Gaza Strip) intensively.”
“We transferred one and a half million refugees to the south, and now we will not go to Rafah (south) because there are one and a half million people there. It is not an American problem; it is our problem in how we deal with them.”
Ramon continued, “Six months ago, we went into this war, and there was one thing, the collapse of Hamas militarily. They dealt (the army) severe blows, but it is still standing on its feet.”
“The goal was to eliminate civilian Hamas that controls humanitarian aid,” considering that “it is impossible to collapse Hamas without temporarily ruling it.”
He added, “We have also failed to release the hostages. We said that there would be military pressure, and the pressure would lead to the release of the hostages, and this did not happen either. The war’s objectives have not been achieved after six months, and at this time, we are in big trouble.”
He pointed out that “we have not even started to overthrow Hamas,” and said, “In my opinion, after six months and in light of everything that has happened, and certainly in light of the failure of October 7, this is the moment for the Chief of Staff of the Israeli army (Hertzi Halevy) to take responsibility as he himself announced.”
“If this happens, there will be a series of reactions at the army level, but also at the political level.”
At the beginning of the war, Halevy announced that he takes responsibility for the security and military failure following Hamas’ attack on Israeli towns and military bases in the Gaza Strip on October 7 last year.
Several Israeli military, security, and political leaders have also announced their responsibility for the Hamas attack.
On October 7, Hamas and Palestinian factions in Gaza launched a military operation called “Aqsa Torrent” in response to “continuous attacks by Israeli forces and settlers against the Palestinian people and their property and sanctities, especially Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem.”
Israel says that Hamas killed 1,200 Israelis and injured 5,431 in the attack. It also captured about 239, including high-ranking military personnel, some of whom were exchanged during a week-long ceasefire that ended in early December 2023, for dozens of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.
Since October 7, 2023, Israel has been waging a devastating war on the Gaza Strip, which has resulted in tens of thousands of civilian casualties, mostly children and women, and a famine that claimed the lives of children and the elderly, leading Israel to face the International Criminal Court on charges of committing “genocide.”
