"Netanyahu is lying, they are not even close"

"Netanyahu is lying, they are not even close"

Netanyahu wants to completely destroy Hamas, which many call unrealistic.

According to the newspaper, US Secret Service officials said in private conversations with members of the US Congress this week that the Israeli military has killed fewer Hamas fighters than Netanyahu claims, estimating that only about a third are armed members of the movement.

At the same time, Netanyahu claimed this week that Israeli forces have already destroyed 75 percent of Hamas' combat units and that victory is "within reach" in a few months.

American officials also emphasized that lessons from the war operations conducted by the US in previous years are that conclusions about the course of the war cannot be drawn from the number of enemy casualties. Operations often radicalize other people.

The paper also stated that the Joseph Biden administration doubts the reality of Israel's war objective to completely destroy Hamas.

Hamas practices guerilla warfare, hiding in the vast maze of tunnels in the Gaza Strip, which make it difficult for Israeli soldiers to advance. Gadi Eisenkot, a member of Israel's war cabinet and former chief of staff, said the complete destruction of Hamas was impossible.

In recent days, there have also been reports of renewed fighting in the northern or central Gaza Strip, areas the Israeli military previously claimed to be under control but have moved further south.

The biggest fighting has been going on for several weeks in the southern city of Khan Yunis, which is only a few kilometers from Rafah.

More than a million Palestinians fled to the area near the Egyptian border before the fighting, and United Nations officials and the US government have expressed concern over the Israeli military's plan to escalate fighting there as well.

In recent days, Israeli attacks have been intensifying in the Rafah area as well. Criticism of the Israeli government is intensifying in Israel, and part of the public is putting pressure on Netanyahu to emphasize as a priority the rescue of more than a hundred hostages that Hamas has been holding captive in Gaza for four months.