In an interview with CBS’s Face the Nation, US Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Mark Warner expressed doubts about Israel’s ability to eliminate all of Hamas, citing concerns that new terror cells may emerge or neighboring militant groups may fill the void.
Warner, who has held meetings with Israeli officials over the war in Gaza, said that while Israel may be able to beat Hamas to a point where it could never repeat the brutal Oct. 7 attacks, it was all too likely that another terrorist group would come and replace it.
“Meeting with folks in Israel, in the military community, in the intelligence community, the idea that you’re going to eliminate every Hamas fighter, I don’t think is a realistic goal,” Warner said.
“140 days in, they’ve basically taken out only about 35% of the Hamas fighters, and literally have only penetrated less than a third of the tunnel network,” Warner added, contradicting Israel’s far higher estimates.
Warner was joined by Sen. Marco Rubio, who agreed and noted that Hamas’ proclivity to hide behind hostages taken on Oct. 7 made it clear the war will not end quickly.
“That doesn’t mean Hezbollah doesn’t step in and take over now as a result, that doesn’t mean that a new Hamas offshoot wouldn’t re-create it,” Rubio said. “This is an ongoing challenge.”
Warner and Rubio also blamed Hamas for creating a humanitarian crisis in Gaza, pointing out that the terror group spent millions on terror tunnels rather than building up the infrastructure of the Palestinian enclave.
“That’s money that could have gone on to create an economy, to feed people, to build hospitals and serve civilians. They didn’t do it,” Rubio said of Hamas, which has governed Gaza since 2006.
Warner said that as Ramadan began, the US needed to emphasize its actions in delivering humanitarian aid to Gaza via the latest airdrops and new port station project.
The comments come as Israel prepares to launch a ground offensive into Rafah, now southern Gaza’s most populous city harboring more than 1.4 million refugees. Israel has claimed that it has killed about 12,000 Hamas terrorists since the war began, close to half of its estimated members.
However, Warner and Rubio’s comments suggest that the end of the conflict is not yet in sight.
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9 Responses
This Nitwit Senator Mark Warner may be the Chairman of the US Senate Intelligence Committee but he himself could use some intelligence.
Unfortunately he’s right. There is no cogent plan to get rid of Hamas. Amongst a population of a couple of million, of which all kids have for the last 20 years been trained to be “fighters” ie terrorists, killing 12 thousand is a sad joke. Without the Rbsh”a, we are doomed…
These statements are indicative of minimal intelligence. Not too smart, but there might be potential. If these guys truly understood, they would take memorable action to insure that there is ZERO aid going to the Palis, not labeled humanitarian nor anything else. That would need to be legislated, or else Biden and the rest of his terror loving liberals would impose their tons of money and aid on them, and this would fund Iran, Hamas, and other terror groups with billions. There is recognition that the Palis are bent on destruction of Israel, and that ridding the world of Hamas may not be enough.
This is why they all must go.
Eliminating the Gestapo was a realistic goal, but then again, they didn’t enjoy the support of large factions in the American and British legislatures.
Obviously it’s impossible to kill every single one. The idea is to eliminate their power and control in Gaza. By the same token, it was impossible to kill every single alqueda and isis terrorist as well, but the terrorist groups were attacked by the U.S. and its allies until it was deemed that they were much less of a threat.
Of course it’s not realistic because the liberal scum and their Allie’s are always interfering
He’s right. The entire Gazan population are terrorists. They are brainwashed from birth that killing Jews is the most noble thing that all should aspire to. The only way to get rid of Hamas and other terrorist gangs is to ship out the “civilians ” to other countries.
philosopher: 1. Deporting won’t work, since the country people are deported to become hotbeds of anti-Semitic genocidal activity – not that the Muslims who fled their homelands are leading the attacks on Jews in America and Europe; 2. For your solution to work you need to “undo” the Islamic conquest, e.g. turn Arabia back to pagan, turn Pakistan and Indonesia back to Hindu, turn most of North Africa and the Middle East back to being Christian (ignore that those Christians were quite a problem for us), turn Iran back to Zoroastrian.