Ex-MI6 Chief: Israel Can’t Fully Destroy Hamas

Former MI6 Chief Sir John Sawers (Lewis Whyld/PA Wire)

Writing for the Financial Times on Wednesday, former MI6 chief Sir John Sawers explained his assessment that Israel must recognise that “destroying Hamas is probably beyond their reach.”

Sawers set out clearly that he believes Israel has a right to defend itself. Drawing contrast with the Yom Kippur war, the campaign against Hamas, he argued, is much more complex and the Israeli state must recognise the limitations of its reach.

He went on to point out that the aim of Hamas’ brutal attack on October 7th was “to instil fear, to draw attention to their cause and to provoke overreaction” rather than to undermine Israel as an established state.

“Urban warfare is tough,” Sawers wrote. “We witnessed in Aleppo and Mariupol whole cities being flattened to defeat a dug-in force. Retaking Mosul from ISIS — the only recent attempt to conduct such a campaign within the rules of war — took US-led forces nine months and cost thousands of civilian deaths. Israel doesn’t have that time: its military knows it will be up against demands for an early ceasefire.”

Then, he asked: “what comes after?”

Highlighting the potential of international administration, he mentioned the UN’s previous involvement in countries like Namibia, Cambodia, and Bosnia. However, he emphasised the complexities of such an undertaking in Gaza and assessed that it would need to be led by countries in the region.