{"id":112992,"date":"2024-05-17T17:00:56","date_gmt":"2024-05-17T15:00:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=112992"},"modified":"2024-05-17T08:20:50","modified_gmt":"2024-05-17T06:20:50","slug":"23-00-95","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=112992","title":{"rendered":"Is It Possible to Destroy Hamas? Experts Weigh in as US Rhetoric Shifts"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>Is It Possible to Destroy Hamas? Experts Weigh in as US Rhetoric Shifts<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/h5>\n

Jack Elbaum<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Israeli soldiers inspect the entrance to what they say is a tunnel used by Hamas terrorists during a ground operation in a location given as Gaza, in this handout image released Nov. 9, 2023. Photo: Israel Defense Forces\/Handout via REUTERS<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Amid a shift in rhetoric among US officials regarding Israel\u2019s ability to destroy Hamas, there has been\u00a0growing uncertainty about whether that war aim is feasible.<\/span><\/p>\n

According to experts who spoke with\u00a0The Algemeiner<\/i>, Israel\u00a0can remove the Palestinian terrorist group from power in Gaza, although efforts by the Biden administration and the international community more broadly to halt Israeli military operations have hurt that effort. However, the experts argued, fully eradicating Hamas from the coastal enclave will be nearly impossible at this point.<\/span><\/p>\n

Recent comments from top officials in the US State Department have suggested the Biden administration has an evolving view of Israel\u2019s ability to destroy Hamas, which rules Gaza.<\/span><\/p>\n

On Monday, US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell\u00a0said\u00a0it does not seem likely Israel will be able to achieve \u201ctotal victory\u201d \u2014 in the parlance of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu \u2014 over Hamas.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIn some respects, we are struggling over what the theory of victory is,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t think we believe that [total victory] is likely or possible and that this looks a lot like situations that we found ourselves in after 9\/11, where, after civilian populations had been moved and lots of violence \u2026 the insurrections continue.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Secretary of State Antony Blinken\u00a0expressed similar sentiments on Sunday.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re seeing parts of Gaza that Israel has cleared of Hamas, where Hamas is coming back, including in the north, including in Khan Younis,\u201d he said, suggesting Israel\u2019s strategy may not be working. \u201cA lot of armed Hamas will be left no matter what they do in Rafah.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The Algemeiner<\/i>\u00a0asked the State Department to clarify its stance on whether it believes Hamas can be destroyed and whether it is willing to accept the terrorist group staying in power in some capacity.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe president has made clear the United States wants to see Hamas defeated and justice delivered to [Yahya] Sinwar,\u201d a spokesperson said, referring to the\u00a0terrorist group\u2019s leader in Gaza<\/a>. \u201cThere can be no equivocation on that.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

But, at the same time, the spokesperson argued, \u201cthe only way to completely defeat an idea is to offer a better one. Military pressure is necessary but not sufficient to fully defeat Hamas. If Israel\u2019s military effort is not accompanied by a political plan for the future of Gaza and the Palestinian people, the terrorists will keep coming back and Israel will remain under threat.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The State Department official added that \u201cwe are seeing this happen in Gaza City,\u201d referring to the fact that Hamas terrorists have returned to some areas in Gaza where they had been driven out by Israeli forces.<\/span><\/p>\n

Israel has not publicly articulated a clear plan for the \u201cday after\u201d Hamas is defeated in Gaza, leading critics to claim that Israel\u2019s operations may ultimately prove fruitless if the terrorists are able to re-occupy areas of Gaza where Israeli forces have left.<\/span><\/p>\n

Max Abrahms, a tenured professor of international relations at Northeastern University and a consultant to US government agencies, disagreed with the notion that Israel has lacked any kind of a strategy, suggesting those pushing such a claim may have an agenda. \u201cThis constant refrain about Netanyahu not having a plan for the day after has been weaponized in order to justify\u00a0pressuring Israel into halting its military operations<\/a>\u00a0in Gaza,\u201d he told\u00a0The Algemeiner<\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Abrahms also argued it is unlikely Israel will be able to fully defeat Hamas at this point.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

On one hand, \u201cwe\u2019ve seen throughout history many examples of terrorists getting absolutely crushed and never recovering. One example of counter-terrorism working, which is very salient, was ISIS based in Syria,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHowever,\u201d Abrahms explained, \u201cI do not believe that Hamas will be eradicated, even as a terrorist group, out of Gaza.\u201d Some of the blame, he argued, lies on \u201cthe international community, including the Biden White House, which has continuously restrained the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] from effectively going after Hamas.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe enormous\u00a0delay before Rafah<\/a>, as well as the pressure on Israel to draw down its troops out of Gaza, enabled Hamas not only to survive in Rafah, but to reposition itself in northern Gaza,\u201d Abrahms added. \u201cSo, it is impossible to imagine, at this point, that Hamas will be eradicated from Gaza, but it didn\u2019t need to be that way.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Danielle Pletka, a senior fellow in foreign and defense policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), told\u00a0The Algemeiner<\/em>\u00a0that she believes Israel can still achieve its war aims. \u201cRemoving a group from power,\u201d she argued, \u201cis a much simpler goal than eradicating it, which is actually, certainly in its most absolute sense, unachievable.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Asked about those who are questioning the prudence of Israel\u2019s military strategy and whether it is conducive to achieving its war aims, she said, \u201cI don\u2019t question Israel\u2019s strategy here. I think, you know, they\u2019ve got a good 76 years of experience in dealing with the enemy.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe idea that we should be sitting here in Washington, DC, and suggesting that the Israelis are fools,\u201d she said, is incorrect and counterproductive.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Is It Possible to Destroy Hamas? Experts Weigh in as US Rhetoric Shifts Jack Elbaum Israeli soldiers inspect the entrance to what they say is a tunnel used by Hamas terrorists during a ground operation in a location given as Gaza, in this handout image released Nov. 9, 2023. Photo: Israel Defense Forces\/Handout via REUTERS […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[26,24],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112992"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=112992"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112992\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":113007,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112992\/revisions\/113007"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=112992"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=112992"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=112992"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}