FARAAN: One of the most peculiar statements made by Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of the Zionist regime, is that the third stage of the attack on Gaza will involve a war of attrition against the Islamic resistance movement (Hamas), stating that “Israel will not surrender” until it achieves its goals, including the destruction of Hamas and the return of all captives.
According to this report, Abdul Bari Atwan, the editor-in-chief of the electronic magazine Raialyoum updated in London, wrote in an analysis referencing the above: The strange point here is that these claims raised on the verge of the end of the ninth and the beginning of the tenth month of the Zionist regime’s attack on Gaza are, in fact, nothing more than “delusions,” as they distort all the facts. In reality, it is the Zionist regime, not the resistance forces, that is exposed to a war of attrition encompassing human, financial, political, and military erosion; every day, a number of the regime’s soldiers are falling like flies.
Such empty and hollow claims are raised daily; the American newspaper “New York Times,” citing four senior officers of the Zionist regime’s army, revealed that due to 9 months of continuous and fruitless war in Gaza and the failure to achieve the victory promised by Netanyahu, they have weakened and become feeble.
The army of the Zionist regime, which according to the claims of its government is invincible, is now worn out and fatigued, and even the regime’s reserve forces are not willing to join the army for war in Gaza – recognized as the world’s most dangerous place with cemeteries full of corpses – how can it engage in a much tougher and more difficult war on the northern front of Palestine against Hezbollah fighters, facing undoubtedly the largest wave of missile and drone attacks in its history.
Amidst this, the generals of this regime’s army may be more worn out than their soldiers. They have now come to believe they have suffered a severe defeat and the shortest way to minimize their losses is to withdraw from Gaza and accept Hamas’s presence in power in exchange for the release of Zionist captives. Netanyahu is too arrogant to raise the white flag and surrender, or admit defeat. Instead, he will turn to the game of “politics and military” and “deception,” in which he excels. He initiated this game long ago, proclaiming victory will soon be achieved in Rafah and claiming the army has fulfilled its mission, thus needing to move on to the “third stage.”
The main points of this stage involve pulling out a significant portion of the Zionist soldiers from Gaza, leaving only two battalions of this regime’s army stationed – one at the Nitzanim crossing between southern and northern Gaza, and the other along the borders with Egypt. Subsequently, attacks by this regime will only be pursued through aerial strikes against resistance forces.
In essence, the third stage is actually a major retreat of “Israel” from Gaza, with the deployment of this regime’s military on the Nitzanim and Salah al-Din axes in the north and south unlikely to last long. Attacks on Zionist soldiers stationed at these two points have failed, and every day dozens of soldiers from this regime are killed or injured in ambushes by resistance forces in these areas.
The military superiority of the Zionist regime – achieved through technological support, missiles, and equipment from the United States – has proven ineffective in confrontations with the resistance in Gaza, the southwestern coast, southern Lebanon, the Mediterranean Sea, and the Red Sea. This regime has been defeated on all fronts in the face of the strong will of resistance fighters and the strategic insight of their leaders.