PARIS, February 2. /TASS/. Since the launch of its operation in the Gaza Strip, Israel has managed to achieve neither of its two goals, as Tel Aviv has failed to eradicate the radical Palestinian movement Hamas or release hostages, Wassef Arikat, former soldier in the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), retired Palestinian general and military analyst, said.

"Over the past 120 days, Israel has deployed four divisions in order to eradicate Hamas and release the hostages using force. Neither of these goals has been achieved," he told the French newspaper Le Monde.

According to the expert, this is a "moral and military defeat [for Israel], as well as a defeat for its intelligence." The newspaper wrote that Hamas was continuing to fight back against Israel and battle despite numerous casualties caused by Israel’s "scorched-earth policy."

That being said, the movement does have one advantage in this conflict. A Palestinian expert with the International Crisis Group think tank, Tahani Mustafa, asserted that it stems from the fact that the movement "does not need to do anything special to win, but it simply needs to survive."

US Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern Affairs Barbara Leaf told reporters earlier during an online briefing that Hamas and Israel are continuing to put together proposals for a potential new deal that would also involve a humanitarian pause in the Gaza Strip and the release of hostages.

Tensions flared up in the Middle East after Hamas militants from the Gaza Strip attacked Israeli territory on October 7, when many Israelis living in the settlements near the border were killed and over 200 people, including children, women and the elderly, were taken hostage. Hamas views its attack as a response to Israeli authorities’ steps against the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. Israel declared a total blockade of the Gaza Strip and launched bombardments of the enclave and some areas in Lebanon and Syria. Clashes are also reported in the West Bank.