Israeli military, intelligence believe Hamas will survive offensive

The document was put together by the Israeli army’s research division and states that “authentic support remains” for Hamas among Gazans, the channel reported.

The document also warned that “Gaza will become an area in deep crisis”, given the lack of plan for the “day after” war.

The document was reportedly presented on Monday to leading politicians in Israel following a week of senior military and intelligence talks about the findings, Channel 12 added.

Ilana Dayan, an investigative journalist at the broadcaster, stated that the “bottom line” of the document was that the Hamas movement would inevitably survive Israel’s assault.

The report directly contradicts Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s stated goal of eradicating all aspects of the group, which many countries have warned against as an unrealistic feet.

In November, US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said that Israel would be unable to eliminate the group and its ideology.

“What we have learned through our own experiences, that through military and other means you can absolutely have a significant impact on a terrorist group’s ability to resource itself, to train fighters, to recruit fighters, to plan to execute attacks,” Kirby stated during a press conference.

“It doesn’t mean that the ideology withers away and dies,” he added, a stance he repeated in January.

Nearly 29,000 Palestinians have been killed and 68,500 have been wounded in Israel’s onslaught.

The report comes as Israel prepares a ground offensive on Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah, where over half of Gaza’s 2.3 million population has sought refuge.

Netanyahu has said it is only a matter of time before Israel launches a ground invasion of the city.