US officials: Israel failed to destroy Hamas tunnels, can't eliminate group

Israel has failed to eliminate Hamas or destroy its tunnels in Gaza and has nothing more to achieve military in the strip, senior US officials reportedly told the New York Times. 

The latest American assessment is that Israel's military campaign has reached the end of the line and that the possibility of weakening Hamas further has diminished.

Continued bombings would only increase risks to civilians, the unnamed officials said. 

According to the report, a growing number of national security officials believe Israel would never be able to completely eliminate Hamas despite severely damaging its capabilities in the fighting. 

Current and former American and Israeli officials told NYT that returning the roughly 115 captives cannot be achieved militarily.

And while Israel has tried to damage Hamas' tunnels, it has failed to destroy them, American officials added.

The tunnel network has proved "much larger than Israel anticipated" and remains "an effective way for Hamas to hide its leaders and move around fighters," the report said.