The head of the US Senate Intelligence Committee said that Israel’s aim to eliminate all of Hamas is not “a realistic goal” as officials fear terror cells are likely to be born from the ashes or replaced by neighboring militant groups.
Committee Chairman Mark Warner (D-Va.) told CBS’s Face the Nation on Sunday that after holding meetings with Israeli officials over the war in Gaza, he has doubts that the end of the conflict is near despite Prime Minister Netanyahu’s claims that it will be over in 2024.
“Meeting with folks in Israel, in the military community, in the intelligence community, the idea that you’re going to eliminate every Hamas fighter, I don’t think is a realistic goal,” Warner said.
The senator noted that Hamas’ proclivity to hide behind the hostages taken on Oct. 7 made it clear the war will not end quickly, with the Jewish State forced to prioritize the safety of its residents before wiping out the terror group’s expansive 300-mile long tunnel network.
“140 days in, they’ve basically taken out only about 35% of the Hamas fighters, and literally have only penetrated less than a third of the tunnel network,” Warner said, contradicting Israel’s much larger estimates.
Warner was also joined by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who agreed and said that while Israel may be able to beat Hamas to a point where it could never repeat the brutal Oct. 7, it was all too likely that another terrorist group would come and replace it.
“That doesn’t mean Hezbollah doesn’t step in and take over now as a result, that doesn’t mean that a new Hamas offshoot wouldn’t re-create it,” Rubio said. “This is an ongoing challenge.”
Warner and Rubio also slammed Hamas for creating a humanitarian crisis in Gaza, with the Florida senator pointing out that the terror group spent millions on the terror tunnels rather than build up the infrastructure of the Palestinian enclave.
“That’s money that could have gone on to create an economy, to feed people, to build hospitals and serve civilians. They didn’t do it,” he said of Hamas, who has governed Gaza since 2006.
Warner said that as Ramadan began, the US needed to emphasize its actions in delivering humanitarian aid to Gaza via the latest airdrops and new port station project.
Last month, the IDF claimed it had killed about 12,000 Hamas terrorists since the war began, close to half of its estimated members.
Netanyahu also touted that 18 of Hamas’ 24 battalions have been wiped out, with four of the six remaining units believed to be stationed in Rafah, now southern Gaza’s most populous city harboring more than 1.4 million refugees.
Israel is expected to launch a ground offensive into the city in the coming weeks, according to Netanyahu, who had put the assault on pause after initially warning that it would begin on Ramadan if the hostages were not released.
