Israel claims to be close to destroying Hamas. But is it?

Description

Dr Andreas Krieg, a Middle East security analyst and lecturer at King’s College London, said Hamas would survive the killing of its leaders and fighters.

“#Hamas is not just an organisation, it is an idea, and that is not going to die even if the leaders are killed,” he said.



“In the West, we have established the metrics for successful counterinsurgency operations by presenting the leaders of an organisation on a silver platter and saying we’ve won as with Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaeda and Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and Isis,” Dr Krieg added. “Unfortunately neither Isis nor al-Qaeda have ceased to exist… and the decapitation of an organisation has not led to the end of the organisation.”



Hamas is replenishing its foot soldiers too, the analyst said, with young men radicalised by Israel’s bombardment that has killed more than 30,000 people, according to local health officials. “You’re creating more fighters than you kill,” he suggested.

Period	15 Mar 2024
Held at	iNews, United Kingdom