A parade of top Biden administration officials has ratcheted up criticism of Israel, signaling deep frustration with the country’s anti-Hamas military campaign in Gaza that has raged for nearly eight months.
The upshot, according to U.S. officials, is that Hamas still holds significant ground and capabilities in Gaza despite Israel’s large-scale conventional military operations against the militant group. This outcome risks undermining Israel’s goal of defeating Hamas, several former generals and a Democratic congressman warned.
“Israel has a right and responsibility to defeat Hamas, but its current strategy of large-scale, conventional military operations will backfire and undermine that goal,” said Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.) in an interview.
One major issue, according to Crow and others, is that not enough humanitarian aid has been allowed into Gaza, leading to famine-like conditions and widespread civilian suffering that risk driving more Palestinians toward supporting Hamas. “Unless you center humanitarian needs and the protection of civilians in conflict, your military goals will fail,” Crow said.
Retired Gen. Joseph Votel, who led U.S. Special Operations Command, said the Israeli military actions have likely “radicalized a lot more” Gazans, particularly youths questioning the violence. “The Israelis are not helping their cause here,” Votel stated.
Even more bluntly, President Biden reportedly warned Israel that the U.S. will cut off weapons transfers “if they go into Rafah,” the Gaza border town where Israeli forces have conducted major operations, evacuating hundreds of thousands of residents while claiming to target Hamas leaders there.
Retired Gen. Frank McKenzie, the former U.S. Central Command chief, criticized Israel for not deploying a large enough ground force to clear, capture and securely hold dense urban areas of Gaza after pushing into them. “Unless you do that, people are probably going to try to flow back in and Hamas will then move in and reestablish a presence there. That’s classic guerrilla strategy,” McKenzie said.
Both McKenzie and Votel pointed to the U.S. military’s reliance on local partner forces to secure territory after defeating ISIS in Iraq and Syria as a model Israel should have followed. “There should’ve been more deliberation upfront about how they were going to do that part of the campaign, and now they are where they are,” Votel said.
The criticism highlights the Biden administration’s growing frustration with Israeli military tactics in Gaza that have failed to uproot Hamas while imposing heavy humanitarian costs. Officials clearly view the current approach as self-defeating in the long run.
While acknowledging Israel’s right to self-defense, the administration is increasingly signaling that large-scale military operations in Gaza risk empowering Hamas politically by turning more Palestinians against Israel through heavy civilian casualties and deprivation. A shift in strategy more focused on securing gained territory and allowing massive humanitarian relief may be necessary, officials have warned, for Israel to translate its military superiority into sustainable gains against Hamas.