On Wednesday’s broadcast of “CNN’s “AC360,” CNN Military Analyst and former NATO Supreme Allied Commander Gen. Wesley Clark (Ret.) stated that “right now, the momentum is with Hamas.” Because “They know the weight of global opinion, including in the United States, is weighing in against the Israelis, against a continuation of the operation into Rafah. And they know that if they simply hang tough, continue to report casualties, get the sympathy of the world on their side, there will be increasing pressure against Israel. And this has been really the aim of their war plan since October 7.” Clark also stated that Hamas is “still interfering with the delivery of humanitarian supplies, medical supplies.”
Host Anderson Cooper asked, “Gen. Clark, if it’s true that Hamas doesn’t have 40 hostages that fit the criteria, do you think they’d ever turn over other hostages, even if they’re younger, military-aged males?”
Clark responded, “They certainly should if they want the negotiated agreement to move forward. But, right now, the momentum is with Hamas. They know they’re winning. They know the weight of global opinion, including in the United States, is weighing in against the Israelis, against a continuation of the operation into Rafah. And they know that if they simply hang tough, continue to report casualties, get the sympathy of the world on their side, there will be increasing pressure against Israel. And this has been really the aim of their war plan since October 7.”
Cooper then asked, “You believe they’re winning?”
Clark answered, “They believe they’re winning. And if you look at the measures of success, we can’t tell how many Hamas commanders have been killed and so forth. But the bottom line on it is, if this fight is ended and Hamas survives, it will come — and anything is done to rebuild Gaza, give a Palestinian two-[state], or anything else, Hamas will claim that it’s the victor and that it is the cause for the success of the two-state solution and the rebuilding of Gaza and so forth. And Hamas has been an organization dedicated to murder, essentially. It’s a terrorist organization. So, it’s a really bad thing for the whole region if Hamas does survive and claim success.”
He added, “I think they still have command and control of several battalions. I think their battalions are somewhat lower in strength than they started, but we would estimate three to 5,000 fighters are still in there. There’s still an effective resistance to Israel. They’re still using the civilian population as hostages. They’re still interfering with the delivery of humanitarian supplies, medical supplies. And I don’t believe for a minute that they can’t locate hostages, because these underground organizations have longstanding plans and rehearsals on how to maintain communications when Israel does what’s expected, which is cutting communications, bombing, disrupting things, saying they can’t locate, it’s just another way to put more pressure on Israel through the United States.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.