• Military Menu                       

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Industry
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

Commander: Israeli public being 'fed lies' about progress made against Hamas

Iran Press TV

Friday, 18 July 2025 6:40 PM

A senior Israeli military commander says the Israeli public is being "fed lies" about the progress made against Hamas, warning that the Palestinian resistance movement will not be defeated for years.

In an interview with Ynet published on Friday, the unnamed officer said Hamas still maintains "massive infrastructure" in Gaza and that the fight against the resistance group is far from over.

The commander said dismantling Hamas is a "tedious" task, with the military needing to return to Gaza to "mow the grass" constantly.

"This is work that will need to continue for a year, for five years, to maintain the achievements."

"It doesn't matter if the enemy is called Hamas, Islamic Jihad, or any other name," he added.

"In today's populist era, the public is being fed lies and spins, just like they were before 7 October and after every round of fighting with Hamas."

Israeli reserve major-general Yitzhak Brik recently told the Hebrew-language Maariv daily that Hamas had regained its pre-war strength, contradicting the Israeli military's accounts of progress in the besieged Palestinian territory.

Brik said the reality on the ground for Israeli soldiers was "grim." He said Hamas now numbers about 40,000 resistance fighters, similar to its strength before the Israeli aggression began in Gaza in October 2023.

On Friday, Hamas declared its full readiness to engage in a prolonged battle of attrition against Israel.

Abu Obeida, spokesman for the military wing of Hamas, the Qassam Brigades, warned that if Israel chooses to persist in what he called a "war of extermination," it will face increasing funerals for its soldiers and officers.

He said Hamas's current strategy was one focused on inflicting casualties, conducting special operations, and seeking the capture of enemy soldiers.

Hamas fighters, he said, have already killed or wounded hundreds of Israeli troops, with thousands more suffering from psychological trauma.

Abu Obeida confirmed that Hamas continues to monitor ceasefire negotiations, and that any agreement must guarantee an end to the war, the withdrawal of the occupying forces, and a meaningful relief for the Palestinian people.

Hamas has already said resistance fighters were now "waging a war of attrition that surprises the enemy daily with innovative field tactics, causing it to lose the initiative and confuse its calculations, despite its superior firepower and air superiority."

"The longer the war continues, the more the occupation army sinks into the shifting sands of Gaza and becomes more vulnerable to the resistance's qualitative strikes."