Israel is losing the war against Hamas – but Netanyahu and his government will never admit it | Paul Rogers

The official narrative has been that Hamas is weakened, but in reality the IDF's doctrine of massive force is failing

• Paul Rogers is emeritus professor of peace studies at Bradford University

Until recently the war narrative on Gaza has been very largely controlled by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the country's ministry of defence. Israel's international reputation may have plummeted with the killing of more than 20,000 Palestinians, the wounding of more than 50,000 and the destruction of much of Gaza, but the IDF could still sell a plausible narrative of a severely weakened Hamas, even claiming that the war in northern Gaza was largely complete, and success in southern Gaza would follow before too long.

The narrative was helped by severe difficulties for the few journalists still operating in Gaza, including the risk to their personal safety, while the international press corps was stuck in Jerusalem and dependent on IDF sources for much of their information.

Paul Rogers is emeritus professor of peace studies at Bradford University and an honorary fellow at the Joint Service Command and Staff College