Netanyahu’s vow to destroy Hamas questioned by US

Experts have cast doubt on the Israeli prime minister’s declaration that he would destroy Hamas after he vowed to continue with the offensive in Gaza.

“We will finish the job in Rafah,” Benjamin Netanyahu said, maintaining that eliminating the militant group behind the deadly raids of 7 October was the primary aim of the war in Gaza, despite scepticism about whether this can be achieved and demands to prioritise the release of Israeli hostages.

Mr Netanyahu gave an upbeat assessment of progress towards eliminating Hamas’s leadership on Monday, alluding to the assassination of commander Saleh al-Arouri in Beirut in January, as unconfirmed reports in Israel sugested that another senior figure, Marwan Issa, had been killed.

But reports show a mixed picture. While Hamas has suffered heavy damage during five months of war, there is little indication that Israel is closing to achieving its destruction.

A recent US intelligence assessment poured cold water on the prospects of Israel eliminating its enemy, saying: “Israel probably will face lingering armed resistance from Hamas for years to come, and the military will struggle to neutralise

Hamas’ underground infrastructure, which allows insurgents to hide, regain strength, and surprise Israeli forces.

Professor Kobi Michael, a military analyst at the Israeli Institute for National Security Studies, a think-tank, said the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) had made progress but Hamas could endure in some form for decades.

“We have succeeded in eliminating almost 20 of their 24 battalions – the regular army of Hamas in Gaza,” he said. But the group “would survive politically”, he added, saying: “In this war we are dealing with the military and governmental dimensions of Hamas. In the ideological dimension it will be a challenge because I don’t see that it disappears from the Palestinian political scene.”

Hamas will probably be able to regenerate itself with diminished capacity, Dr Michael said, so that its gunmen could harass Israeli forces but without the advanced rocket capabilities displayed during this war. “This will be ongoing and it might last for dozens of years,” he said.

Moshe Roth, an Israeli MP and member of the foreign affairs and security committee, said Hamas could swiftly recover from the damage.

“If Israel left Gaza today, it would be totally under the control of Hamas within two hours,” he told