Israel may "collapse within a year," according to retired Israeli Major General Yitzhak Brik if the ongoing conflict between the Palestinian organization Hamas and the Lebanese movement Hezbollah is to continue.
Brik stated, "The nation truly is galloping towards the edge of an abyss," in an editorial piece published by the Israeli daily Haaretz.
Israel will collapse in no more than a year if the war of attrition against Hamas and Hezbollah is allowed to continue.
Since a Hamas attack on October 7, the Israeli army has waged a bloody offensive in the Gaza Strip, killing close to 40,300 people—mostly women and children—and wounded over 93,100 more.
Fears of a full-scale conflict between Israel and Hezbollah have sparked months of cross-border strikes between the two groups as a result of the onslaught.
Brik questioned Israeli officials' assertions that Hamas would surrender and that its commander, Yahya Sinwar, would be apprehended.
Fears of a full-scale conflict between Israel and Hezbollah have sparked months of cross-border strikes between the two groups as a result of the attack.
Brik questioned Israeli officials' claims that Hamas would surrender and that its commander, Yahya Sinwar, would be apprehended.
“Most of the pretentious declarations made by Defense Minister Yoav Gallant throughout the war in Gaza have proven to be groundless,” he said.
“With these pronouncements, Gallant, along with his colleagues IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has been throwing dust in the eyes of the Israeli public,” he added.
According to the former general, Gallant has started to see that "the concept of total victory in Gaza is nonsense. "
According to Brik, "It appears that he has started to realize that failing to reach a hostage deal with Hamas would lead to a regional war that would seriously jeopardize Israel."
Regarding a hypothetical hostage exchange agreement with Hamas, he stated that "new conditions that Netanyahu introduced into the proposed deal" have made it "impossible" to accomplish what Israel could have previously obtained from a cease-fire agreement.
The US, Qatar, and Egypt have been attempting to negotiate a deal between Israel and Hamas for months to guarantee a prisoner exchange, a cease-fire, and the entry of humanitarian supplies into Gaza. However, because Netanyahu has refused to accede to Hamas's demands to end the war, efforts at mediation have come to a standstill.
Following an attack by Hamas on October 7, Israel has persisted in its ruthless offensive on the Gaza Strip in defiance of a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire.
Much of the region is in ruins due to acute shortages of food, clean water, and medication brought on by Israel's blockade of Gaza.
A halt to military operations in the southern city of Rafah, where over a million Palestinians took refuge in the area's invasion on May 6, has been ordered by the International Court of Justice, which is investigating charges of genocide against Israel.
