GIora Eiland
GIora EilandFlash 90

Giora Eiland, former head of the National Security Council, commented that "Gaza has been the most besieged place in the world for years. This makes everything harder in every possible way."

In an interview with Globes, he commented "There is no doubt that terrorists have managed to retreat from the north of the Gaza Strip to the south. We have not yet completely defeated them. In the south, we have not yet even begun. Hamas's force in the south is roughly equal to that it had in the north, so the war is halfway complete at best."

"We do not want to see ourselves fighting with Israeli M-16s against Hamas Kalashnikovs. Even if we are exceptionally successful and win ten to one, that is still a painful price to pay. We need to avoid this as much as possible and avoid rushing into battle. If Hamas is already surrounded, we should use artillery or aerial bombardment.''

Eiland criticized the decision to allow humanitarian aid to be moved into Gaza at the request of the USA. ''Right now, there is a war between Israel and Gaza. Gaza relies on the capabilities of its soldiers, the quantities of ammunition and advanced systems it has, and on the silence of bureaucracy and the support of its citizens.''

''Gaza is right now similar to Nazi Germany in many ways, including the widespread support for the ideology and its leader. Therefore, this war must be treated as one state against another. In the case of one state against another, one does not send humanitarian aid to the opposing state, even from a moral point of view. after all, who are the 'old women in Gaza'? They are the mothers and grandmothers of the Hamas soldiers who committed the Oct. 7th massacre. In a case like this, how can we even talk of humanitarian considerations, especially when there are still hostages in God-knows-what kind of situation?''

''Only a disastrous situation in the southern Gaza Strip will lead to demoralization and surrender of the other side. Right now, we are playing into the enemy's hands," he concluded.