Israeli army chief tells Netanyahu Hamas defeated, confrontation over

Israeli army Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz that Hamas had suffered a military defeat and that the confrontation with the group was effectively over, an Israeli newspaper reported.

Zamir made the remarks during a closed-door security briefing earlier this month held during a visit by army commanders to the Gaza Strip, where intelligence assessments of Hamas’s current capabilities and activity were discussed.

During the discussion, an intelligence official pointed to signs that Hamas was seeking to regain influence and re-establish control, warning that it still posed a security threat despite the strikes it had suffered.

Zamir, however, said the assessments reflected the group’s intentions more than its actual capabilities. He said Hamas had lost much of its military capacity and that the Israeli army was continuing to target its infrastructure, weapons depots and leaders. He also said that Hamas’s failure to respond to recent operations was, in his view, evidence of its declining ability to confront the army.