Gaza casualties due to ‘Hamas terrorists hiding within’ civilian areas, says former Israeli Brigadier General

We spoke to Israeli Air Force Brigadier General Relik Shafir, who was one of the pilots who struck at Iraqi nuclear facilities in 1981.

Matt Frei: Can you just start off, if you don’t mind, with your reaction to what’s been happening in Gaza? The first time we spoke was a year ago, almost exactly. And you said there had to be some kind of political horizon for the people of Gaza to aim towards, and indeed the Israeli government. Do you see any evidence of that amidst the continued killings?

Relik Shafir: Unfortunately, we don’t have a good Israeli day after plan. The number of casualties has decreased to a kind of a standstill in the sense that the numbers have not been rising substantially for the last few months, which is a blessing. But there is no day after plan, partly because of Hamas and partly because the Israeli government is not preparing any day after plan such as with the Palestinian Authority, etc… So we are at a kind of a limbo in Gaza with Hamas being, I would say, suppressed to such a degree that they are not a military force to contend with at this time.

Matt Frei: And yet even today, we saw 28 Palestinians killed in an attack on a school. These are continuing tragedies which presumably will make the situation, whatever it is, at the end, more and more difficult to deal with.

Relik Shafir: I’m not quite sure, because of those 28, most of those have been Hamas terrorists. So in a way, this is, in this war, after about 40,000 casualties, Gazan casualties, close to 20,000 were Hamas terrorists. And unfortunately, with those, since they’re hiding within the civilian population, there have been casualties on the civilian side as well. But the numbers at this time, as Israel is controlling Gaza, the casualties are mostly Hamas terrorists. And this is a continuing war of attrition against Hamas and against [Yahya] Sinwar.

Matt Frei: Okay. Let’s talk about Iran. The war cabinet is meeting right now to decide on which targets to hit. And there’s been a lot of speculation, whether it’s military or oil or possibly even nuclear. You have experience on that front. What do you think would be a sensible target in response to last week’s missile attack from Iran that does not escalate this war any further?

Relik Shafir: I think if Israel hits military targets, missile sites, anti-aircraft missile sites or launching pads for ground to ground missiles, maybe some of the targets of the Guards, that would be something which could be held as a limited attack on legitimate targets rather than nuclear sites or oil industry, etc, that would escalate. So I reckon that the attack would be on military or paramilitary sites.

Matt Frei: Do you think that the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is being reckless in the way that he’s dealing with Iran?

Relik Shafir: So far he hasn’t been. I mean, the talk has been sometimes, not by himself, but by other ministers, has been reckless. But at the end, the actions speak for themselves. And so far, it has been calculated and not overdrawn.