Six months on, the Israeli assault on Gaza is a dismal failure

Six months after Hamas' surprise attacks on Israel and Israel's subsequent offensive in Gaza, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has yet to achieve any of the stated goals he laid out in October 2023.

Measured against Israel's own goals, its assault on Gaza can be seen as nothing other than a dismal failure. The prime minister's stated goals were to achieve a "total victory" over Hamas, rescue the 253 hostages taken on October 7 and prevent a further such attack from ever taking place (i.e. safeguarding Israel’s borders and maintaining long-term security).

These objectives seem further away now than they have been at any point since the start of the latest round of the Israel-Gaza conflict.

'Total victory'

To ostensibly achieve the first goal, the Israeli army has turned Gaza into a barren wasteland, beset by a looming famine, with its residents badly wounded, displaced, dead, or starving.

By December 2023, just two months into the start of Israel's military campaign, Israel dropped an estimated 29,000 bombs, of which 40 to 45 percent were unguided "dumb" bombs, on a densely populated strip of land one-third the size of Los Angeles.

Yet six months into the conflict and despite Israel’s claims that it has “eliminated” 19 out of 24 battalions, Hamas' top leadership not only remains intact but feels emboldened enough to give hours-long interviews propagating their narrative.

Ironically, Israel's proclamations of military "success" on the Gaza battlefield against Hamas forces have often hurt the country's own narrative.

Numerous public relations blunders, from the infamous Rantisi Children’s Hospital "Calendargate" – which has been turned into a worldwide meme viewed millions of times – to outright lies, such as those of the former Israeli government spokesman Eylon Levy to the UK Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron regarding the blockage of aid to Gaza, as well as the entirely fictitious story of a hostage giving birth in captivity as told by Sara Netanyahu to US First Lady Jill Biden, have eroded Israel's credibility even in the eyes of allied and friendly governments.

Most recently, Israel's official excuse for the targeting of a World Central Kitchen aid convoy – three times – was denounced worldwide, leading to calls for an independent inquiry.

This leaves Hamas, itself no stranger to outlandish claims and despite its monumental losses on the battlefield, in control of the overall narrative while Israel's trustworthiness falls to an all-time low.

Hostage aims

The second stated objective, the rescue of the hostages, has been even more of a failure, with military force only succeeding in rescuing three living hostages and one deceased one – out of a total of 253 – amid six months of raids, heavy bombardments, and ground incursions.

In one operation, two hostages were rescued while killing around 100 Gazans. Three further Israeli hostages were killed by Israeli military fire despite emerging from their captivity shirtless and waving white flags.

Conversely, through negotiations, 109 hostages were released by Hamas, 105 of them through a prisoner exchange deal and four released prior to the temporary truce early in the war.

An unknown number of the hostages are dead, with Hamas claiming that over 70 have been killed in the bombardment of Gaza.

Without a new hostage exchange deal, and short of a protracted and costly invasion of Rafah, the objective of freeing the hostages remains unfulfilled.

Long-term security

Israel has been claiming that the third objective is to safeguard its borders and prevent further attacks on its citizens.

From a purely strategic viewpoint, given the consistent attacks by Hezbollah on the northern border, the blockade of the Red Sea by Iran-backed Houthi militias, and the constant threats by Iran (which led to Israel being on high alert in the last few days), the goal of securing the borders has not only not been met, but is arguably worse when compared to the early days of the campaign.

Israel’s long-term security is best achieved by securing peace with its neighbours and integrating itself into the wider Middle East region.

But images from Gaza of mass civilian casualties and Israeli soldiers filming themselves blowing up buildings, desecrating mosques, looting homes and sifting through Palestinian women's underwear, have unsurprisingly resonated deeply negatively on the Arab Street.

Prior to October 7, Israel was on the verge of signing a historic peace agreement with Saudi Arabia. Today, a poll found that 96 percent of Saudis agree with the proposal that "Arab countries should immediately break all diplomatic, political, economic, and any other contacts with Israel, in protest against its military action in Gaza."

Peace with the wider region has never been further away.

In short, six months into this bloody war, despite reportedly killing 13,000 Hamas fighters and controlling vast areas of Gaza, Israel has failed to conclusively remove Hamas, as its leadership remains largely intact.

Israel has freed only three living hostages out of the 253 via military means. And peace with its neighbours and thereby its long-term security remains elusive. This is a dismal record by any measure.

In reaching this dire point, Netanyahu has violated the rules of war, trampled on international law, and set precedents unthinkable a mere six months ago.

In examining this desolate landscape, it is difficult to envision how Israel can extricate itself from a quagmire of its own making and how Palestinians in Gaza can recover after such immense devastation.