Watan-When Israel decided to go to full-scale war with Hezbollah last fall, it concluded the campaign in just seven weeks. The same pattern followed with Iran—its objectives were reportedly achieved in twelve days. So why, despite nearly two years of relentless war and massive military superiority, has Israel failed to win in Gaza?
Unlike Hezbollah or Iran, which are far more powerful militarily, Hamas is a smaller, more localized force. Yet it continues to inflict losses, ambush soldiers, and undermine Israeli confidence—despite Gaza’s near-total destruction. The failure lies not in Hamas’s strength, but in the nature of the war: a war of identity, survival, and rootedness.
In Lebanon and Iran, Israel defined its goals—target leaders and nuclear infrastructure—and executed them with clarity. But in Gaza, Israel seems directionless, caught in a cycle of destruction without a political or strategic endgame. Each missile deepens its isolation, each child killed creates another enemy of the future.
This is not just about Hamas. It’s about people who have nowhere else to go, tied to their land in a way that Iranian or Hezbollah forces are not. While Israel can choose when to start and stop its campaigns elsewhere, Gaza’s fighters have made it clear—they will fight as long as occupation remains.
As former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger once remarked, conventional armies lose if they don’t win—but guerrilla forces win if they don’t lose. Israel has crushed Gaza physically, but failed politically and morally. Its stated goals—destroying Hamas, recovering hostages, securing its southern border—remain unmet.
Now even the Israeli military wants an end to the war. Not because it has won, but because it has reached the limits of what force can achieve. What remains are political extremists pushing for demographic conquest—not military victory.
In a war where the occupied fight for their very existence, and the occupier fights to erase their presence, military supremacy is not enough. That’s why Gaza endures, and Israel cannot win.
-
-
-
-
-
-
