Scott Ritter: Everything is Going According to Hamas’s Plan in Gaza
Hamas has lured Israel into a fight in Gaza that Israel is not prepared to conduct
Scott Ritter, the former UN weapons inspector, told The Trends Journal in an interview Wednesday that Hamas’s 7 October attack in Israel exposed the IDF and — despite Israel’s heavy-handed response on the civilian population — has Israeli defense forces on their back foot.
“Hamas has prepared itself for this battle,” he said. “They have lured Israel into a fight in Gaza that Israel is not prepared to conduct, and, therefore, not prepared to win. Everything is going according to the Hamas plan. Israel said they wanted to totally eradicate Hamas militarily, they’re being defeated on the battlefield as we speak.”
He said it is one thing to occupy a blown up building above ground, but Hamas has fortified 500 kilometers of tunnels underground that support a defensive strategy and is killing Israelis at a high rate. Over 100 Israeli troops have died and 5,000 injured, including 2,000 who are permanently disabled, he said.
NBC News reported on Wednesday that about 20 percent of Israeli soldiers killed during the ground offensive died from friendly fire and other accidents. Electronic Intifada also reported that Israel’s army on Tuesday admitted that an “immense and complex quantity” of “friendly fire” incidents took place on 7 October.
“This is unsustainable for the Israeli defense force,” he said. “So they are not defeating Hamas, militarily, which means Israel has lost.