Seven months into the war, Hamas is far from defeated, stoking fears in Israel that it is walking into a forever war.
The U.S.-designated terrorist group is using its network of tunnels, small cells of fighters and broad social influence to not only survive but to harry Israeli forces. Hamas is attacking more aggressively, firing more antitank weapons at soldiers sheltering in houses and at Israeli military vehicles daily, said an Israeli reservist from the 98th commando division currently fighting in Jabalia.
Hamas’s resilience poses a strategic problem for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who says a key war aim is the total destruction of the Palestinian Islamist group. Concerns have grown within Israel, including in the security establishment, that Israel has no credible plan for replacing Hamas, and whatever achievements the military has won will be diminished.
As Israel’s military moved tanks and troops into Rafah, which it had billed as Hamas’s last redoubt, Hamas launched a series of hit-and-run attacks on Israeli forces in northern Gaza, witnesses said. Areas that had been relatively quiet turned into battlegrounds as Israel said Tuesday that it called in tanks for support in fights with dozens of militants and struck more than 100 targets from the air, including one it called a Hamas war room in central Gaza.
Hamas Shift to Guerrilla Tactics Raises Specter of Forever War for Israel https://t.co/YdRP9qw070 via @WSJ
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