TEHRAN- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has left no stone unturned in his quest to eliminate Hamas but he has fallen flat on his face.

During the course of the Gaza conflict, senior Israeli officials admitted their army’s incapability to subdue Hamas.

A former Israeli army general is the latest figure who has acknowledged the regime’s failed strategy in Gaza. 

In a scathing commentary for Israeli news site Ynet, Giora Eiland said “Israel has failed in three-and-a-half out of the four goals of the war.”

“We have not demolished Hamas’ military power; we have not overthrown Hamas’ rule; we are not managing to return the residents … safely to their homes [in Israel], and as for the return of the abductees, the fourth goal – we have partially succeeded,” he said. 

Eiland recognized that Hamas has “achieved all of its goals, chief among them: continuing its rule in Gaza”.

Eiland is the architect of a notorious plan for Gaza that was presented to Netanyahu, known as Bibi, in September last year. 

The "Generals' Plan", also known as the Eiland Plan, called for the expulsion of Palestinians from northern Gaza, the forced starvation and targeting of whoever stays behind as “legitimate military targets”.

 Eiland also proposed a “surrender-or-starve” strategy for the Israeli military to pursue.

 “It’s permissible and even recommended to starve an enemy to death, provided you’ve allowed the civilians corridors of exits beforehand. And that is exactly what I am proposing,” Eiland told Haaretz in September.

The plan was aimed at defeating Hamas and the ethnic cleansing of the enclave’s north.  

The Israeli army killed nearly 62,000 Palestinians in Gaza during more than 15 months of war on the territory. It reduced much of Gaza to rubble but was unable to bring the Palestinian resistance to its knees. 

Ultimately, Israel signed a three-phase ceasefire deal with Hamas which took effect on January 19.

So far, in the first phase, Hamas has released 21 captives in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinians from Israeli jails. 

During the captive exchange handovers, Hamas displayed its military strength which has infuriated and humiliated Israeli leaders. 

Netanyahu has now resorted to threats to resume the war in an attempt to obscure domestic criticism over his army’s setbacks.