Former Israeli military intelligence chief Amos Yadlin says he opposes a full-scale occupation of Gaza, warning it would require astronomical resources and likely “doom” the Israeli captives still held in the enclave, Al Jazeera reports.

“We’re talking about two million people and military rule; desperate people with destroyed homes, no hospitals or schools,” Yadlin, who served as the military intelligence head in 2011-2012, told Israel’s Maariv newspaper. “The responsibility for them will fall on us.”

“If I were in the cabinet today, I would lay out the implications of occupying Gaza,” he added.

“In my view, it would doom the hostages. After 22 months, the [Israeli military] knows how to conquer above-ground Gaza, but it doesn’t know how to conquer underground Gaza or rescue the hostages.”