TEHRAN- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is still facing immense domestic and international pressure as he remains adamant that his army will be able to achieve its objectives in the war on the Gaza Strip.

Since declaring war on the besieged Palestinian territory on October 7, Netanyahu, known as Bibi, has repeatedly vowed to continue the onslaught until achieving “total victory” over Hamas and “destroying” the resistance group. 

But incumbent and former Israeli military and intelligence officials have thrown a bucket of ice water over Netanyahu to wake him up to the fact that his dreams will remain elusive. 

Former Mossad chief Tamir Bardo has described Bibi’s war strategy as a disaster.

“All he cares about is staying in power, and he is leading us to disaster. The absolute victory he is talking about will result to more soldiers losing their lives,” Bardo has been quoted as saying on Israel’s Channel 12.

The Israel army says over 660 of its troops have been killed during the operations against Hamas.

Netanyahu said after October 7 that every member of Hamas "is a dead man". But it now seems as if every Israeli soldier is a dead man.

The former chief of the Israeli spy agency further referred to Netanyahu’s priority in the face of his warmongering approach.  

“Netanyahu doesn’t hear, doesn’t see, doesn’t think, and he only cares about himself and doesn’t think about the state and he leads us to disaster.  All that matters to him is that he remains at the head of the government,” he said.

Netanyahu stands accused of prolonging the conflict to evade responsibility and accountability over his failure to prevent the October 7 military operation that was carried out by Hamas which was followed by Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza.

More than 37,500 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza by the Israeli army as the war approaches the 10-month mark.

Bardo’s remarks have highlighted divisions in Israel over its failure to defeat Hamas. But this is just the tip of the iceberg. 

A few days earlier, a fracture between Netanyahu and his military was thrust into the public domain. 

“This business of destroying Hamas, making Hamas disappear — it’s simply throwing sand in the eyes of the public,” the Israeli military spokesman said on Thursday. 

 “Hamas is an idea; Hamas is a party. It’s rooted in the hearts of the people — anyone who thinks we can eliminate Hamas is wrong,” Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari added. 

In mid-February, assessments by Israel’s military intelligence showed that even if the regime dismantles Hamas’s organized military capabilities, it will continue to operate in Gaza.

The assessments indicated that “authentic support remains” for Hamas among Gazans.

In addition to domestic concerns over Israel’s inability to achieve its military goals in Gaza, the United States has also admitted that Bibi will not be able to bring Hamas to its knees. 

On Thursday, CBS News cited an American official as saying that after nine months of bloodshed, Israel's forces "haven't come close to achieving their objective of destroying Hamas." 

The official told the US news channel that hundreds of Hamas fighters are still operating in Gaza, taking advantage of miles of still-intact tunnels in the territory. 

Despite Netanyahu’s incapability to defeat Hamas, he is beating the drums of a full-blown war with Lebanon’s Hezbollah. 

Hezbollah Secretary General Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah has warned that nowhere in Israel would be safe in such a scenario. 

Netanyahu’s war rhetoric clearly indicates that he is biting off more than he can chew. 

Bibi is making desperate attempts to cover up the Israeli failures against Hamas by threatening to wage a new war against Hezbollah. 

The Hamas’ October 7 attack showed that Israel can collapse like a house of cards. Undoubtedly, a potential war with Hezbollah will be a game changer because the Lebanese resistance group holds all the cards.