A document signed by Brig. Gen. (res.) Guy Hazut, head of the Ground Forces’ instruction division, warns that the IDF’s current plan for Gideon’s Chariots B, the conquest of Gaza City, does not include essential steps required for victory, Yisrael Hayom reported
Hazut says that the combat methods chosen for the operation are contrary to operational logic and known IDF recommendations from the past, and that the lack of implementation of these steps may prevent tangible achievements even in the upcoming phase.
Contrary to the prevailing claims in the IDF that it is impossible to defeat a guerrilla force, Hazut asserts that it can be achieved through the implementation of steps that have not been taken, such as a total siege, cutting supply lines, and severing the guerrilla force from the civilian population.
Senior IDF officials responded to the allegations: “The IDF encourages critical discourse, and in the discussions held in the General Staff forum and between the ranks, different opinions arise regarding the operational patterns to be adopted in the fighting in the Gaza Strip. Operation Gideon’s Chariots met its objectives. During the operation the IDF completely dismantled the terror infrastructure in the places where it operated. The operation increased the military pressure on Hamas and led to the IDF’s control of three-quarters of the Gaza Strip and the elimination of about 2,000 terrorists. The commander of the Ground Forces held a clarification with Brig.-Gen. (res.) Guy Hazut, as the content of the presentation and its findings were not written with authority and did not represent the IDF’s position as expected from an official document transferred to the reserve forces.”
Col. (res.) Chezi Nechama, one of the founders of the Forum of Reserve Commanders and Soldiers, responded to the report by stating that “for anyone who was wondering whether the ‘conceptzia’ is still here, the IDF spokesperson’s response arrived and proved that it is here to stay. When Brig.-Gen. Guy Hazut puts his conclusions in writing after 20 months of leading the IDF’s learning process division, the IDF summons him for clarification. In short, why deal with the message when you can shoot the messenger? We deeply regret this, but we will continue to shout the cry of tens of thousands of officers and soldiers.”
Hazut was also the author of the leaked IDF document stating that the first phase of Operation Gideon’s Chariots was a dismal failure.
(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)
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3 Responses
What is the objective at all of a victory over Hamas in Gaza City. The IDF has already taken control not just of Gaza City but of all of north Gaza in the past and over a year ago they said they need only to go into Rafa to destroy “the last remaining battalion of Hamas”, which they said they did.
Obviously when they took control over the north in the past and defeated all the battalions there many if not most of Hamas fighters decided to vacate to the south along with all of the civilians so they could live to fight another day. So there is zero doubt that this time too after they declare victory over Hamas in Gaza City and leave Hamas fighters will appear there again.
In any case the entire point of this battle is not clear, are they claiming that there are no Hamas fighters left anywhere else in Gaza. That after this battle is over and the day comes when Hamas releases the hostages there will be no Hamas fighters left to come out riding on their pickup trucks, as they have in the past. The reality is that as some IDF general said a long time ago that Hamas is replacing its men faster than the IDF can kill them so they will never kill off every last man in Hamas.
Instead the solution to Hamas and it not posing a threat to Israel in the future is for Israel to maintain the same type of security control over Gaza as they do the west bank. There are plenty of terrorists in the west bank but whenever they begin to get too active the IDF goes in to “mow the grass” and that is the only long term method for them to deal with Hamas.
So they should end this war and hand it over to the arab countries to implement their plans for rebuilding Gaza on the condition that Israel maintains security control and let Gaza now be the headache of Egypt and the other arab countries who are training a security force to take control of it along with a bunch of technocrats to manage it.
the Zionists will lose as they have no zchusim left
Do we have to post demoralizing opinion articles while our boys are quite literally putting their lives on the line to eradicate evil and protect our people and country?