US Tells Israel to Follow Iraq Template in Gaza to Destroy Hamas but Experts Doubt Results – News18

The US gave two propositions to Israel when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel will eliminate Hamas and strip the terrorist group of its military and political strength. First, launch an expansive ground invasion, like what the US troops did with Iraqi and British forces in Iraq’s Fallujah in 2004 to overthrow the Saddam Hussein-led government.

Or, eliminate Hamas terrorists through a combination of surgical strikes and targeted raids by special forces, similar to what US forces did in Iraq’s Mosul in 2017 with help from Iraqi and Kurdish soldiers in its fight against Islamic State.

However, Israeli, Palestinian and American experts have questioned the viability of such plans. There are also reports that the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) are not prepared for such an operation due to dissent between the ruling government and the Israeli army’s top brass and also partly due to the hostage situation.

Speaking to news outlet, the BBC, experts fear Israel has no plans for the Gaza Strip once its army leaves the blockaded coastal enclave. “You cannot promote such a historic move without a plan about the day after,” Dr. Michael Milshtein, head of the Palestinian Studies Forum at Tel Aviv University’s Moshe Dayan Centre was quoted as saying by the news agency.

The former head of the Department for Palestinian Affairs in Israeli Military Intelligence told the news outlet that such planning should begin immediately.

Haim Tomer, a former senior officer with Israel’s foreign intelligence service, Mossad, also told the BBC that he fears that there is no long-term plan after Israel halts bombing Gaza and the IDF exits the area.

Milshtein also pointed out that Hamas is an idea and the desire to ‘eradicate’ it, as said by top Israeli leaders, is something that Israel cannot erase.

He pointed to the “De-Baathification” programme undertaken by the US forces in Iraq post Saddam Hussein’s toppling and said it was a disaster because thousands of Iraqi civil servants and members of the armed forces were left jobless which then laid the foundation of a devastating insurgency that followed in the later years and still plagues the West Asian nation.

“I do hope they explain to the Israelis that they made some huge mistakes in Iraq. For example, do not have any illusion about eradicating the ruling party or changing the minds of people. That won’t happen,” Milshtein was quoted as saying by the BBC.

Mustafa Barghouti, president of the Palestinian National Initiative and Diana Buttu, a former spokesperson for the Palestine Liberation Organisation agree. They fear, like Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, that the latest bombardment and siege is a ploy to drive Palestinians outside Gaza Strip and occupy those lands.

Israel has not told Gazans to leave the Gaza Strip and only asked them to relocate to South Gaza but some alleged instances of bombardment there has led to criticism of the Israeli army.

Milshtein says that if Gazans are still there in northern Gaza following Israel’s operation, a million dollar question will be who will rule them in absence of Hamas.

He proposes that Israel should support the creation of a new administration, run by Gazans and seek US, Egyptian and Saudi Arabian help to set it up.

He adds that Fatah, the rival Palestinian faction that Hamas violently ejected from Gaza a year after winning elections in 2006, should also be made party but Gazans and West Bank residents, who are governed by Fatah, are wildly unpopular among Palestinians in both West Bank and Gaza.

The former Mossad officer, Haim Tomer, told the news outlet that Israel is destined to deal with the Gaza Strip indefinitely, like a “bone stuck in the throat”.