David Isaac
JNS, Jan. 22, 2024
“It is no secret that the Israeli government is under heavy international pressure that may divert us from the path of decisive victory. This could be due to mismanagement of civil and humanitarian aspects, or as a result of a loose grip on the territory that may allow Hamas to restore its power.”
As Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu comes under increasing pressure to produce a program for “the day after” Hamas in the Gaza Strip, several Likud lawmakers have issued a plan to refocus attention on first defeating the Islamist organization.
Titled “Plan for Victory in the Gaza Strip” and dated Jan. 16, the 102nd day of the war, the plan calls first for the IDF’s continued destruction of Hamas’s “order of battle”—its command structure, fighters, equipment and infrastructure.
The number of Hamas terrorists is estimated at 30,000-40,000, of whom 25% are said to have been killed.
“The achievement is not nothing, certainly if you add the number of wounded and prisoners of the organization, but the campaign is far from over,” the plan states.
The plan underscores the importance of Israeli territorial control of the Gaza Strip, which it proposes dividing into three sections—north, central and south—cut by two security corridors running east to west.
