Brik: ‘It is Not Hamas That is Collapsing But Israel’

Retired Israeli General Itzhak Brik said if the Israeli forces “continue fighting in Gaza by raiding and re-raiding the same targets, not only we won’t bring Hamas to collapse, but we will collapse ourselves”.

In an opinion piece published by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, titled, “It Is Not Hamas That Is Collapsing, but iIsrael,” Brik said every day, Israeli forces in Gaza grow weaker while Hamas, “in contrast, has already replenished its ranks with 17- and 18-year-olds”.

Brik also noted many Israeli reservists are “no longer consenting” to being “redrafted again and again” and “conscripted soldiers are exhausted and are losing professional skills for lack of training”.

“Some argue that withdrawing army forces from Gaza after signing a hostage deal with Hamas would be the same as being defeated and surrendering…but this claim is grounded in a fundamental misunderstanding of what is taking place in the Gaza Strip.

It is fueled by clichés spread by the political and military echelons to justify their actions and gain public support and legitimacy to continue a failed war… it is those very same people declaring that a cessation of hostilities means our defeat and surrender who are bringing the military closer to collapse and the state to its downfall,” he added.

“Israel’s economy, international relations and social cohesiveness are severely damaged by this war of attrition against both Hamas and Hezbollah,” he said, adding the Israeli military “does not have enough forces to fight a multi-front war”.

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Itzhak Brik  Says Netanyahu is Lying on Gaza

Reserve Israeli general Itzhak Brik is a tireless critic of the government of Benjamin Netanyahu. He says “what is happening in Gaza is a big disgrace. We are losing a lot, and [Netanyahu] throws dust in the eyes,” the Quds News Network quotes him saying.

“The IDF realizes that Hamas cannot be defeated and soldiers are being sent to their deaths. Herzi Helevi wants to stay in his position until the end of his term; he is deceptive,” he adds.

“…officers, brigade commanders, and soldiers talk to me daily from the field, informing me of what is happening every minute. Yesterday, an officer spoke to me and said, ‘Brik, keep going strong with what you are doing.’ He is in Rafah now and told me that I am truthful in every word I say,” Brik told Israel’s Channel 7.

In reference to statements made by government about the war he said “they deceive the public and don’t tell the truth…we are not winning.  We do not confront Hamas, they don’t even stand in front of us.

All the statements that the army killed 100 here, and 200 there are incorrect. The [Hamas] fighters are underground; they come out, launch rockets and return. They are blowing up houses and using explosives against us and we are being killed,” the retired General said.

“There is no such closure of the tunnels that reach Sinai. These tunnels which they call Hames’s oxygen tubes have been used to transport weapons and combat equipment and the army claims to have controlled the Philadelphi Route and closed the tunnels is not true.

To close these tunnels, a canal 9km long and 50 meters deep must be dug because these tunnels are located 50 meters underground and all weapons and equipment come through them. The army does not intend to dig a canal 9km long and 50 meters deep,” he says.

Are they deceiving us? The army chief of staff said that the army is close to victory in Rafah, the Channel 7 interviewer interjects.

“They are clearly deceiving the public and lying to them,” Brik says.

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