Israel is ‘on the precipice of defeat’ in Gaza, ex military chiefs say — as Netanyahu believes only military victory can free hostages

Nineteen former Israeli military, intelligence and police chiefs warned that the Jewish state is “on the precipice of defeat” in Gaza, calling for an end to the war to save the hostages.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, however, is reportedly pushing to ramp up the military campaign in the Palestinian territory, believing that only a total victory over Hamas can free the captives.

The retired Israeli leaders, including former prime minister and IDF chief Ehud Barak, said in a video released Sunday that Israel has accumulated too many loses in Gaza with no clear end in site, with the officials accusing Netanyahu of keeping the war alive for the sole purpose of preserving the fragile right-wing coalition that controls his government.

“We are on the precipice of defeat,” said former Mossad director Tamir Pardo, referencing the mass backlash against Israel over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

“What the world sees today is of our own creation,” he said of the images of starving children in Gaza.

“We are hiding behind a lie that we wrought,” he added, of the need to keep the war going. “This lie was sold to the Israeli public, and the world has long since understood that it doesn’t reflect the real picture.”

Former Shin Bet director Ami Ayalon echoed the concerns from the retired officials that the war in Gaza has transformed in the nearly 21-months since it began, with Israel growing more and more diplomatically isolated as the civilian deaths in the Gaza add up.

“This war started as a just war. It was a defensive war,” he said. “But once we achieved all its military objectives, once we achieved a brilliant military victory against all our enemies, this war stopped being a just war.

“It is leading the State of Israel to the loss of its security and identity,” he added. “…We have a duty to stand up and say what we need to say.”

Yoram Cohen, another former Shin Bet director, also slammed the notion that Hamas can be eradicated through military means as a “fantasy.”

The IDF had claimed earlier this year that it had killed more than 17,000 Hamas operatives, about 70% of the terror group’s estimated forces. Yet US and Israeli officials have warned that the terror group has been able to recruit replacements to replace the lost terrorists — and likely will be able to continue doing so.

Despite the call from the 19 former officials, Netanyahu is reportedly still “pushing for the release of the hostages through decisive military victory,” the Times of Israel reported.

The embattled prime minister has maintained that military pressure on Hamas is the best way to free the 50 remaining hostages in Gaza, with cease-fire talks falling to the wayside last week after both Israel and the US pulled their negotiation team from Doha.

President Trump’s envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, said that the US and Israel are close to a “very, very good plan” to end the war in Gaza and free the remaining hostages. 

Neither Netanyahu nor Witkoff have elaborated on what the new plan is, with Hamas expressing zero interest in a hostage exchange deal without a clear framework to end the war in Gaza permanently.

The group has also rejected any terms that would see it demilitarize and cede control of the Palestinian enclave, two conditions that Israel has said are mandatory to end the war.

The need to end the fighting has gained new pressure amid the looming famine in Gaza, with scores of Palestinians dying from malnutrition-related cases, including children.

The global outrage only got louder after Hamas published propaganda video of two hostages, showing their emaciated bodies and cries for food and water inside the terror group’s vast tunnel system.