The Israeli war on Gaza could drag on for years to come if the Israeli army decided to launch a ground invasion, former CIA chief David Petraeus warned in an interview with Politico on Thursday.
Speaking on the Power Play podcast, the US general, who served in both Iraq and Afghanistan, said that a ground invasion of Gaza by the Israeli army “could be Mogadishu on steroids very quickly.”
Petraeus was referring to the 1993 incident in which three US Black Hawk helicopters were shot down in the capital of Somalia, leading to a fierce battle between local fighters and American forces who attempted to rescue the crash survivors.
ISRAELI ARMY: 10 Israeli soldiers have been injured, one seriously, in the explosion of a device in the Nur Shams refugee camp in Tulkarm.
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— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) October 19, 2023
The former spy chief also suggested that if Hamas turns out to be “as creative in the defense” as they were in the “horrific, barbaric, unspeakable attack” on Israel on October 7, “then you’ll see suicide bombers, you’ll see improvised explosive devices, there will be ambushes, booby traps, and the urban setting, again, could not be more challenging.”
Petraeus noted that given his personal experience in counterinsurgency campaigns, he doesn’t believe the Israeli army’s operation could be won quickly and might even take over a decade.
ISRAELI MEDIA: An American plane arrived in Israel carrying a shipment of armored vehicles for the Israeli army.
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— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) October 19, 2023
“It’s hard for me to imagine a more difficult setting than this particular one, and I was one who commanded forces in a number of major urban operations,” Petraeus told Politico.
“You don’t win counterinsurgencies in a year or two. They typically take a decade or more, as we saw in Iraq, as we saw in Afghanistan.”
Additionally, Petraeus stated that, even in the case of an Israeli victory, Israel should already think about how it intends to eventually restore and rebuild Gaza.
AL-QASSAM: The Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military arm of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), announced that it had directed a new missile attack at Ashkelon.
🎥 AL-QUDS BRIGADES 'We are Lying in Wait for You'
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— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) October 19, 2023
Meanwhile, former Israeli army chief of staff, Benny Gantz, admitted on Wednesday that the war against Palestinian Resistance groups is unlikely to end anytime soon, and will probably last “for months,” while rebuilding Gaza could take “years.”
Israel launched its latest war on Gaza on October 7, following a surprise attack by Palestinian Resistance group, Hamas.
(PC, RT)
