Middle East Monitor / October 7, 2025
Retired Israeli Major General Yitzhak Brick warned that Israel has reached a “point of no return” in its war on the Gaza Strip, saying the army has exhausted its strength without breaking the Palestinian resistance.
In remarks published by the Hebrew-language newspaper Maariv, Brick said Israel has failed to achieve any of its strategic objectives nearly two years into the war. He accused both the political and military leadership of misleading the public with “media propaganda” about imminent victory.
“The Israeli army has exhausted its energy without being able to break the back of the Palestinian resistance,” Brick said. “The leadership is deceiving the public by claiming that a decisive victory is near, while in reality, Israel is mired in a prolonged war of attrition that threatens internal collapse.”
Brick added that Israel has not accomplished its key goals, including destroying Hamas, restoring deterrence, and securing border settlements near Gaza. He revealed that the army has destroyed only about 20 per cent of Hamas’s tunnel network — a key component of the group’s military infrastructure.
He further noted that assessments suggesting Hamas is close to defeat are “incorrect and misleading,” asserting that the movement has rebuilt its military capabilities and now fields over 30,000 fighters, according to internal security reports.
Brick also criticised the army’s heavy dependence on airstrikes, arguing that air power alone cannot bring victory. “The ground forces suffer from a lack of readiness and organisation,” he said. “The current war is being waged without a clear strategic plan.”
