The Wall Street Journal quoted a source it described as an insider as saying that the US intelligence community is skeptical about Israel's ability to achieve its stated military goal of eliminating the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas).
The source added that Israel's military campaign in the Gaza Strip could damage Hamas and its infrastructure, but it would not be able to eradicate Hamas's ideology.
A congressional official confirmed to the newspaper that the most realistic goal was to buy Israel security for years but not forever, without elaborating.
The newspaper also quoted Israeli officials as saying that Hamas leaders may maintain the nucleus of their forces despite the intensified attacks.
An Israeli officer added that the more complex phases of the war may not yet begun, as the more the IDF penetrates, the harder the battle becomes.
The Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, announced on Friday the targeting of 8 Israeli army tanks in Gaza with "Yassin 105" shells, in addition to targeting a gathering of Israeli forces northwest of the city. The IDF acknowledged the deaths of 356 soldiers and officers, 39 of whom have been killed since the start of the ground operation in the besieged enclave.
The Israeli military also announced that its forces had killed about 30 Palestinian militants in ground operations within 24 hours.
The Israeli army claimed that its forces stormed Hamas military positions, took control of buildings containing rockets, drones, maps and mortars, as well as stormed the office of Mohammed Sinwar, brother of Hamas leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar.
For 35 days, the Israeli occupation army has been waging a devastating war on Gaza during which it "destroyed residential neighborhoods on the heads of their inhabitants", causing the death of 11,78 Palestinians, including 4506,3027 children, 678,27 women and 500 elderly, in addition to about 183,2280 injured. <> Palestinians were killed and <>,<> arrested in the West Bank, according to official sources.