Here's how Israel can defeat Hamas
Col. (res.) Hezi Nechama, former commander in the IDF and member of the Forum of Commanders and Reservists, criticized Israel’s leadership over its handling of the Gaza war, accusing the government of indecision and failure to achieve stated goals. In a radio interview, he urged a tougher military strategy to defeat Hamas.
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Col. (res.) Hezi Nechama, member of the Forum of Commanders and Reservists and former commander of the Alexandroni and Menashe Brigades, spoke with Anat Davidov and Udi Segal about Israel’s conduct in Gaza, the ongoing war, government calls to conquer the Strip, and the reported tension between the political echelon and IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir.
“I’m not here to grade the Chief of Staff, but he said he had a 100-day plan to defeat Hamas. He didn’t follow through, so he needs to ask himself why he failed. I suggest he improve the plan and bring a better one. His responsibility is to meet the goal set by the government. The Cabinet decided on this together with Gadi Eisenkot and Benny Gantz, it wasn’t far-right extremists. I’m not quick to call for dismissing Chiefs of Staff, but I do place overall responsibility on the political leadership. They must give a clear directive, what exactly do they want to happen,” said Nechama.
Regarding the idea of conquering Gaza, he said:
“I’m not a political commentator, I’m a military one. In the Forum of Commanders and Reservists, we’re saying Hamas won’t return all the hostages until they are decisively defeated. My primary criticism is directed at the political echelon, the dithering over the past year, the indecision, the failure to resolve the situation. That’s the core issue. We’ve paid for it with dozens of soldiers killed in recent months and hundreds wounded. This campaign needs to be brought to an end. When we fight, there must be a clear and worthy objective. What have we accomplished in the last four to five months? What was the purpose? If the goal was to apply military pressure on Hamas to get a deal and we didn’t get a deal, we failed. If the goal was to defeat Hamas and we didn’t defeat them, we failed. Each person should draw their own conclusions.”
What’s the path to defeating Hamas? It’s simple.
He then shared his view on what Israel should do in Gaza to defeat Hamas:
“Hamas will do everything to keep the hostages alive, they’re the most valuable asset they have. Those hostages are like diamonds, they expect to get the highest price for them. What’s the way to defeat Hamas? It’s simple. First, we need to separate the Palestinian population from Hamas. Second, impose a full siege on Hamas. We can’t be the ones providing water and food to them. Take the Netzarim Corridor, divide it, and tell the entire population of Gaza City to move south toward Netzarim. Let women and children through, but if a Hamas fighter shows up, he’s either arrested or killed. Then, no food or water should go into northern Gaza, no supplies for Hamas, what will they do? In a week or two, they’ll be thirsty, and they’ll surrender and come to the fences.”