Bottom line: Hamas must be eliminated as a military and governing entity in Gaza.
Hamas will continue to threaten Israel as long as it exists - ex-Mossad head
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-790762
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/israel...gence-assessment-hamas-resistance-last-years/
https://www.dni.gov/files/ODNI/documents/assessments/ATA-2024-Unclassified-Report.pdf
who could've seen this coming?:
Quite simply because the argument is disingenuous. It's like the "do you condemn Hamas?" question, or the "having a cease fire now is being anti-Israel", or "the silence on sexual violence from pro-Palestinians is deafening". Don't tell me you actually believe the "we won't stop until terrorism is defeated" from Bush et.al?
IOW: it's cover for "shut up about Israel's heavy hand on Gaza".
bro, it's Iraq "changing objectives" all over again, "hamas has to go" is just the latest talking point.....
Do pray tell how do you stop the next JAMAS, MAMAS, or TOMAS from being the next "it" terrorist cell when they've killed 15k? You think those people are now cool with Israel?
Now let me throw it back at you, why is the pro-Israel crowd so against a cease fire? Why does stopping the bombardment of civilians make one pro-Hamas? Do you think there hasn't been a spike in Islamophobia?
Israel's military will "struggle to neutralize" Hamas's sprawling underground tunnel systems and is likely to face "lingering armed resistance" from the militant group "for years to come," according to a new global
threat assessment compiled by the U.S. intelligence community.
The
risk of escalation of the
conflict in Gaza, now stretching into its sixth month, also
"remains high," according to the unclassified report, which was released Monday by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI). The analysts who drafted it, however, said
neither Iran nor its proxy groups are believed to be seeking direct conflict with the United States.
In accompanying public testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Monday, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines said the war in Gaza had fueled violent acts by terror groups worldwide.
The crisis "has galvanized violence by a range of actors around the world and, while it is too early to tell, it is likely that
the Gaza conflict will have a generational impact on terrorism," Haines said. "Both al Qaeda and ISIS, inspired by Hamas, have directed supporters to conduct attacks against Israeli and U.S. interests," she said.
Haines appeared alongside the heads of five major American intelligence agencies for an annual hearing on worldwide threats. CIA director William Burns, FBI director Christopher Wray, Brett Holmgren, head of the State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research, National Security Agency director Gen. Timothy Haugh and Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Kruse of the Pentagon's Defense Intelligence Agency also testified.
The ODNI assessment, which represents the collective analysis of the 18 intelligence agencies comprising the U.S. intelligence community,
also said the "viability" of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's leadership and governing coalition "may be in jeopardy."
"Distrust of Netanyahu's ability to rule has deepened and broadened across the public from its already high levels before the war, and we expect large protests demanding his resignation and new elections," it says. "A different, more moderate government is a possibility."
President Biden said in a recent interview with MSNBC that he
believed Netanyahu was "hurting Israel more than helping Israel" by waging a military campaign that to date has resulted in the deaths of more than 30,000 civilians in Gaza, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health. In a separate interview with Politico, Netanyahu later called Mr. Biden's critical views "wrong," and said fighting could end within four to six weeks.
Burns, who returned Saturday from his eighth trip overseas to hold talks with Qatari, Egyptian and Israeli negotiators, testified Monday that a cease-fire was the most effective way to boost the delivery of humanitarian aid into Gaza, where the health ministry has said at least 25 people have already died due to malnutrition.
A former diplomat who has been tapped by Mr. Biden to lead successive rounds of sensitive hostage talks, Burns said a potential three-part agreement — involving the release of hostages in return for a defined number of Palestinian prisoners and an initial six-week cease-fire — remained "on the table."
"I don't think anybody can guarantee success," he said. "What I think you can guarantee is that the alternatives are worse for innocent civilians in Gaza who are suffering under desperate conditions, for the hostages and their families who are suffering, also under very desperate conditions, and for all of us."
While the 40-page, written intelligence assessment said Iran's leaders "did not orchestrate nor had foreknowledge" of Hamas's October 7 attack against Israel — in which more than 1,200 Israelis were killed and more than 250 were taken hostage — it noted Tehran was able to "flex" its proxy network's military capabilities in the attacks' aftermath, and would likely remain a threat.
"While Iran will remain careful to avoid a direct conflict with either Israel or the United States, it nonetheless enabled scores of militia rocket, missile, and UAV attacks against U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria; Hizballah exchanges of fire with Israel on the north border with Lebanon; and [Houthi] missile and UAV attacks, both on Israel directly and on international commercial shipping transiting the Red Sea," analysts wrote.
