In 10 months of genocidal war in Gaza, Israel’s military has considerably weakened Palestinian military resistance movement Hamas, but continued bombings are now yielding diminishing returns and exacerbating civilian suffering, according to senior US officials quoted by The New York Times.
“Hamas is largely depleted but not wiped out, and the Israelis may never achieve the total annihilation of Hamas,” said Ralph Goff, an ex-CIA official who worked in the Middle East, to the US newspaper.
Joseph L Votel, who previously headed the army’s US Central Command, said while Israel has been able to “disrupt” Hamas and take out many of its leaders, only negotiations could bring about the release of Israeli captives still in the enclave.
The US and Israel are sending delegations to Qatar for ceasefire talks that are due to start later today while Hamas has told mediators it is willing to meet after the discussions to determine if there is a serious response from Israel to truce proposals.
