Isaac Breik: The plan to occupy Gaza will be catastrophic for Israel and will not weaken Hamas.

Reserve Major General in the Israeli army, Isaac Brik, warned that the plan to reoccupy Gaza could lead to "catastrophic results" for Israel, noting that the army lacks the ground capabilities and combat means necessary to decisively win the battle against Hamas.

Brik stated in remarks to the Israeli newspaper Maariv today, Thursday, that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's plan, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court, regarding the reoccupation of Gaza City, which he imposed on the army despite the opposition of Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir, represents a "death trap" for Israeli soldiers and captives.

He added that when the Israeli army enters Gaza City, all of Hamas's control centers will move to other areas outside the city, so the center of power will shift elsewhere, and the presence of the army in parts of Gaza City will not affect the continuation of Hamas's operations.

Brik confirmed that Hamas has not been defeated despite statements from military leadership, adding that the movement still relies on a vast network of tunnels extending hundreds of kilometers, of which only a small part has been destroyed.

Brik criticized the policies adopted by Netanyahu over the past years, accusing him of being responsible for transferring Qatari funds to Hamas, which benefited from them in building hundreds of kilometers of tunnels, as he described.

He also accused him of being responsible for reducing the size of ground forces to a third of what it was two decades ago, which weakened the army's ability to remain in the areas it enters and forced it to rely on repeated airstrikes.

The reserve major general pointed out that the army has not established specialized forces to deal with tunnels, nor has it developed sufficient technologies to destroy them, considering that the official data on the destruction of Hamas's infrastructure is "misleading."

He said that the continuation of fighting inside Gaza City will lead to significant losses among Palestinian civilians and Israeli soldiers alike, and will result in an explosion that Israel has never witnessed before, which could even push Israel's last allies to stop supporting it.

Brik added that reoccupying Gaza "will not lead to the defeat of Hamas, but will leave Israel without a military achievement, internationally isolated, and burdened with severe human, economic, and social losses."

Israeli Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir announced yesterday that the army has begun the second phase of Operation "Gideon's Chariots" in Gaza to achieve what he called the war's objectives.

In contrast, the Israeli Broadcasting Authority reported yesterday that a representative of the Israeli army during a closed session of the Foreign Affairs and Security Committee stated that Gaza City holds symbolic significance, noting that it is not certain that occupying the city will weaken Hamas.

Disagreements within Israel have escalated recently after Hamas announced its and the Palestinian factions' acceptance of the proposal presented by the mediators (Qatar and Egypt), but Israel responded to this step with indifference, then announced its rejection of "partial deals," as it described.

Israel followed that step by announcing its approval of a military plan to occupy Gaza City, which includes calling up 60,000 reservists, at a time when fears are increasing regarding the worsening humanitarian crisis faced by more than two million Palestinians in the besieged enclave.