During an interview with Bloomberg’s “Balance of Power” on Monday, Gen. Frank McKenzie, who served as CENTCOM Commander under Presidents Donald Trump and Joe Biden, stated that the constant focus on Israel has detracted from the fact that “Hamas has no interest in this war ending. It is very much to their advantage to draw it out in time, to increase the rate of civilian casualties, to cast Israel in as unfavorable a light as possible, and Hamas achieves this by embedding in the population of Gaza,” and causing civilian casualties.
McKenzie said, “I think there’s possibly the prospect of a limited ceasefire. But all of our attention has been focused on Israel, because whatever you can think about the Israeli government, nonetheless, it’s pretty much an open and transparent process. We don’t know anything at all about what Hamas is thinking, because they’re a terrorist organization. And I don’t believe, actually, their maximalist demands have changed from day one. So, a lot of attention is focused on machinations inside an open society in Israel, but we’re really not looking at the Hamas part of this equation. Hamas has no interest in this war ending. It is very much to their advantage to draw it out in time, to increase the rate of civilian casualties, to cast Israel in as unfavorable a light as possible, and Hamas achieves this by embedding in the population of Gaza, placing Israeli commanders on the horns of a dilemma any time they seek to strike a target, because Hamas has, very cleverly, drawn the civilians around them. So, it’s not in their interests, actually, their interests being Hamas, it is not in Hamas’ interest to have a ceasefire.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
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