The Israeli military’s strategy of leaving the areas in Gaza it has already operated in is insufficient to meet its stated goal of destroying Hamas, according to retired Gen. David Petraeus.
Israel’s troops, known as the Israel Defense Forces, first invaded Gaza in late October following Hamas’s devastating Oct. 7 terrorist attack. Hamas killed roughly 1,200 people during the attack and kidnapped another approximately 250 people. About a hundred are believed to still be held, though it’s unclear how many are still alive.
Israel began its campaign in northern Gaza and has slowly moved its way south once it felt like the area had been cleared of terrorists, but it did not stay in those areas to ensure Hamas couldn’t reconstitute. The implications of that decision have repeatedly played out as Israeli forces have had to return to multiple areas it had previously cleared to fight against Hamas again.
“In this case, the campaign design, the big idea, the strategy is not adequate. Clear and leave is not sufficient,” Petraeus said on Monday during an event at the McCain Institute. “What you have to do would be clear, hold, and build operations. This is very difficult. It’s very resource intensive. I understand why the Israelis would shrink from this. The problem is I see no alternative.”
The Israelis have effectively left power vacuums behind in various places in Gaza, which have allowed terrorist groups like Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, as well as other gangs, to maintain a grip on power, especially as civilians are desperate for aid.
Officials have indicated the war in Gaza is coming to an end after more than eight months. The war has resulted in the deaths of more than 35,000 people, according to local officials tied to Hamas, while the entire Gaza population is facing the threat of famine and much of the infrastructure within the strip has been destroyed.
“We’ve heard the Israelis talk about a significant downshift in their operations in Gaza,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Monday during an event with the Brookings Institution. “It remains to be seen. We do know this: One way or another, when this conflict ends, it cannot and must not end with a vacuum in Gaza.”
U.S. officials have continued to push Israel to come up with a feasible “day after” plan for what will happen in Gaza once the war is over.
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“We’ve told the Israelis that we expect them to develop their own plans, their own ideas,” the secretary explained. “We’ve not seen enough of that from Israel.”
There are concerns that Israel’s fighting with Hezbollah, a terrorist group based in Lebanon, could spiral further. Hezbollah began firing rockets into Israel on Oct. 8, 2023, a day after Hamas’s attack. The two sides have engaged in limited warfare all this time, though officials on both sides have publicly discussed a full-fledged conflict.