The former U.S. general and CIA chief on lessons for Israel from America’s wars in the Middle East.

New York – Homemad News – From –  FP

Last week, an Israeli patrol in southern Gaza chanced upon the person who had been at the very top of their kill list for more than a year: Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, the architect of the Oct. 7 attack on Israel. When his death was confirmed, it immediately raised some big questions: How much of a blow would this be for Hamas? How should Israel’s strategy now change?

“It’s a huge blow. Symbolically, this is massive. Operationally, it’s significant as well,” said David Petraeus, speaking on FP Live. Petraeus ran United States Central Command, and later had a short stint as CIA Director.

“But Hamas has not yet been destroyed,” he added.

“Keep in mind that there were three objectives set out by the Prime Minister at the beginning of operations in response to the horrific tragedy of 10/7, the mastermind of which was Sinwar. And these were to destroy Hamas, ensure Hamas never governs Gaza again, and of course, get back the hostages. Number one and two are in big tension with number three.

“Destruction means that you cannot reconstitute. Israel is conducting the equivalent of “clear and leave” operations, similar to what we were doing in 2006 in Iraq. And when the surge began, we recognized that only we could provide security for the people and therefore we had to clear areas and then hold them and then rebuild them and restore basic services, etc. In the absence of those kinds of operations, reoccupying Gaza by the Israelis, there is neither security nor a denial of Hamas’s ability to reconstitute nor a denial of Hamas’s ability to influence or govern in the way that they used to. And, of course, the Palestinian people are in a very, very desperate situation. There is really a humanitarian catastrophe in many areas where people have been displaced multiple times. Issues like hygiene, water and food security are really quite desperate.”

One Year On: The World After Oct. 7
On Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas launched a brutal attack on Israel and set in motion a cycle of violence that has rocked the Middle East. Aaron David Miller, a former Middle East advisor, joined FP Live to look back—and ahead.
A Future for Palestinian Statehood?
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has warned that Israel and Hamas are reaching the “last opportunity” to come to a cease-fire. But even a plan that includes the withdrawal of Israeli troops and considerable humanitarian aid may merely be a return to the status quo. Have long-term peace goals been abandoned? FP’s Ravi Agrawal was joined in conversation by Salam Fayyad, the former prime minister of the Palestinian Authority.