Earlier today, I wrote about how the main Israeli mission in Gaza now is destruction of the tunnels built by Hamas to enable surprise terror attacks on Israel. Israel has now confirmed this. The Israelis are likely to agree to a longer cease fire provided that they can continue to demolish the tunnels. Here is how one high Israeli official put it according to the Jerusalem Post:
"As far as Israel is concerned, there is no reason to prevent Gaza's people from stocking up on supplies, so long as the military can continue its work against the tunnels. Our war is not against the population,"
I wonder if Hamas will accept this outcome or if the missiles will start flying again once the twelve hour truce ends. If Hamas accepts, it will mark the total defeat of the terrorist organization. Think about it. Hamas has fired thousands of missiles and watch thousands more be destroyed by Israeli forces. Current estimates is that Hamas has less than half of its original supply of missiles left and that estimate goes down to less than one-quarter remaining with regard to the longer range and more accurate missiles. Hamas has also lost hundreds of fighters and other hundreds have surrendered to Israeli forces. Hamas is in the process of losing its tunnel network, a set of structures that were the principal focus of all Hamas efforts for the last five years at least. Not only would the tunnels be gone, but all the weapons stored in those tunnels would also be gone. To top all this off, there would be no route open to Hamas for resupply of weapons in the near future. Put that all together, and Hamas is facing the near term substantially disarmed and with no chance of resupply.
If the morale of the Hamas fighters is actually as low as it now appears, Hamas may still accept this cease fire. Whether Hamas accepts the extension or not, however, it is crumbling.
"As far as Israel is concerned, there is no reason to prevent Gaza's people from stocking up on supplies, so long as the military can continue its work against the tunnels. Our war is not against the population,"
I wonder if Hamas will accept this outcome or if the missiles will start flying again once the twelve hour truce ends. If Hamas accepts, it will mark the total defeat of the terrorist organization. Think about it. Hamas has fired thousands of missiles and watch thousands more be destroyed by Israeli forces. Current estimates is that Hamas has less than half of its original supply of missiles left and that estimate goes down to less than one-quarter remaining with regard to the longer range and more accurate missiles. Hamas has also lost hundreds of fighters and other hundreds have surrendered to Israeli forces. Hamas is in the process of losing its tunnel network, a set of structures that were the principal focus of all Hamas efforts for the last five years at least. Not only would the tunnels be gone, but all the weapons stored in those tunnels would also be gone. To top all this off, there would be no route open to Hamas for resupply of weapons in the near future. Put that all together, and Hamas is facing the near term substantially disarmed and with no chance of resupply.
If the morale of the Hamas fighters is actually as low as it now appears, Hamas may still accept this cease fire. Whether Hamas accepts the extension or not, however, it is crumbling.
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