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Israel's military chief told government officials that an offensive to capture Gaza City could take six months and would not defeat Hamas even if successful, according to Israeli media reports on Monday.
Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir assessed during a cabinet meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, discussing plans for the Gaza City offensive, Israeli media outlets reported.
Zamir reportedly told the meeting that while the military remains committed to cabinet-defined war objectives, "even after the operation to capture Gaza City, Hamas will not be defeated militarily and administratively."
The Israeli military assessment suggests Israeli forces "would need to occupy not only Gaza City—where approximately 1 million Palestinians have taken shelter—but also central areas of the Gaza Strip" to achieve what officials consider "a defeat of Hamas."
During a closed parliamentary session last week, Zamir criticized the Israeli- and U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Fund (GHF), calling it a "failure," according to the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper.
"I don't understand why money is being spent on this," Zamir reportedly said about the humanitarian aid distribution program.
The military chief also expressed frustration about post-conflict planning, telling lawmakers, "The prime minister doesn't tell us what the next phase is. We don't know what to prepare for."
The reports come as Israel prepares for what military sources describe as the ground phase of "Operation Iron Chariots B," with approximately 300,000 Palestinians having already evacuated Gaza City southward.
Hundreds of Israeli army engineering vehicles have been positioned around the Gaza Strip perimeter ahead of the operation to occupy Gaza City.
Israeli military officials have decided to proceed with operations even if most of Gaza City's civilian population remains.
The families of Israeli hostages in Gaza appealed to professional negotiating teams as well as Israeli security services, claiming, "Netanyahu is determined to wage an eternal war for political purposes while consciously and immediately risking all 48 male hostages and one female hostage."
Meanwhile, coalition tensions are mounting over military conscription legislation for ultra-Orthodox Jews.
Moshe Gafni, chairman of the United Torah Judaism party's Degel HaTorah faction, recently told political meetings that "without a conscription law, I don't see the government surviving past December."
Gafni's comments suggest that if the coalition fails to pass conscription exemption legislation in the Knesset during November, the first month of the winter session after the October recess, the government's chances of surviving the crisis are low.
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