Ram Ben-Barak<\/p>\n
A former member of the Israeli spy agency\u00a0has described as \u201cfutile\u201d the regime\u2019s ongoing war in the besieged Gaza Strip, stressing that Tel Aviv is on the losing end.<\/strong><\/p>\n Ram Ben-Barak, a member of the Israeli parliament\u00a0<\/strong>who served as deputy director of the Mossad, made the remarks in an interview with Israeli public radio on Saturday.<\/p>\n \u201cThis war lacks a clear objective, and it\u2019s evident that we\u2019re unequivocally losing it,\u201d Ben-Barak said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are forced to engage in fighting in the same areas and end up losing more soldiers. We\u2019re also facing setbacks on the international stage, our relations with the US deteriorating significantly, and the Israeli economy in decline,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cShow me one thing we have succeeded in,\u201d Ben-Barak added.<\/p>\n His remarks came after al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas, said they have killed 15 Israeli soldiers east of the Gaza\u2019s southernmost city of Rafah earlier in the day.<\/p>\n According to Qassam Brigades spokesman Abu Obeida, in the past 10 days, Palestinian fighters have targeted 100 Israeli military vehicles, including tanks, armored\u00a0personnel carriers as well as bulldozers.\u00a0They have\u00a0inflicted heavy casualties on Israeli soldiers by blowing up tunnels, launching rockets and mortars, and through sniping and close-quarters combat.<\/p>\n Fighting is raging in Gaza as Israel intensifies\u00a0its ground invasion of Rafah despite international concerns for the hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians in the southern city.<\/p>\n Israeli strikes and intense clashes with Palestinian resistance fighters rocked the city late Friday and early Saturday, with reports of shelling in the city\u2019s southeast and jets bombarding its eastern areas.<\/p>\n Rafah, which quite recently was a shelter for more than 1.4 million Palestinian civilians, has seen some 640,000 of its inhabitants flee to other areas due to Israel\u2019s looming full invasion.<\/p>\n Last week, US President Joe Biden warned that he would delay the transfer of offensive bombs and artillery shells to Israel if the regime launched a full-scale aggression on Rafah.<\/p>\n Israel launched its genocidal war against Gaza in October 7 last year. Since then, at least 35,303 Palestinians have been killed, mostly women and children, and another 79,261 individuals have sustained injuries.<\/p>\n More than 1.7 million people have been internally displaced during the war as well.<\/p>\n