Threat of "eternal war"?

Hamas terrorists are still “present everywhere”

The fear of an "eternal war" is spreading in Israel.(Bild: AFP)

According to experts, Israel is still a long way from defeating the Islamist Hamas even after more than seven months of war in the Gaza Strip. Fears of an "eternal war" are already making the rounds.

"Hamas is present everywhere in the Gaza Strip," Joost Hiltermann, head of the Middle East and North Africa program at the think tank International Crisis Group, told the Wall Street Journal. "Hamas is far from being defeated."

The terrorist organization has switched to guerrilla tactics, which is fuelling fears in Israel of entering an "eternal war", the newspaper reported on Thursday night.

Hamas will continue to exist
Regardless of whether Israel attacks the city of Rafah in southern Gaza in full or not, Hamas will survive and continue to exist in other areas of the coastal strip, according to active and former Israeli military officials, wrote the Wall Street Journal.

On Wednesday, Israel's Defense Minister Yoav Gallant called for the creation of a political alternative to Hamas rule in Gaza. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on the other hand, had previously stated that it would be pointless to discuss the future administration of the coastal strip before a victory over Hamas.

Hamas still able to act
Israel's offensive in the Gaza Strip is already achieving results and Hamas has already been decimated militarily, said Gallant. "But as long as Hamas retains control over civilian life in Gaza, it can rebuild and strengthen itself, so the Israeli army will have to come back and fight in areas where it has already been deployed."

As Israel's military moved tanks and troops into Rafah, which it describes as Hamas' last bastion, Hamas attacked Israeli forces again in the northern Gaza Strip. On Wednesday, the Israeli army called on more Palestinians there to flee to safety ahead of a major operation.

Bleak prospects for the Gaza Strip
On Wednesday, Galant criticized Israel's indecision on the question of who should rule Gaza after the war. Palestinian representatives must take control, accompanied by international actors who create a government alternative to Hamas rule in Gaza, Gallant demanded. Otherwise there would only be two negative options: a continuation of Hamas rule or Israeli military rule.