‘Israel underestimated Hamas power’
A top Israeli intelligence officer has confessed that the regime’s military underestimated the power of the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas during the recent Israeli war on the besieged Gaza Strip.
The officer told a group of foreign journalists that he did not estimate that Hamas could resist for 50 days against the Israeli military.
“Most of the rocket launchers were underground,” he said, referring to the Hamas rocket launchers.
The officer added that the Palestinian resistance fighters buried their launchers and fired by remote control from concealed locations, often hundreds of yards away.
“It made it very hard to find and target,” the officer said.
The Israeli source claimed that Hamas was training assault teams.
“They weren’t navy commandos,” the intelligence officer said. “But they were in very, very good shape.” They received training outside Gaza, the officer claimed.
Israel’s recent war on Gaza ended on August 26 by an Egyptian-brokered truce, which took effect after indirect negotiations between representatives of the two sides of the conflict in Cairo. The deal stipulates the ease of Israel’s blockade as well as the provision of a guarantee that Palestinian demands will be met.
Israeli warplanes and tanks started pounding the blockaded enclave in early July, inflicting heavy losses on the Palestinians.
Some 2,140 Palestinians, mostly civilians including women, children and the elderly, were killed in the Israeli military aggression against the Gaza Strip. Around 11,000 others were injured.
Tel Aviv says 72 were killed on the Israeli side, but Hamas puts the number much higher.
DB/HSN