Israel’s War in Gaza Enters Its Most Perilous Phase Yet
K HAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip—In a dark tunnel lined with concrete, 60 feet below ground, the Israeli general held one hand above the other to illustrate his soldiers’ mission: to destroy Hamas in this sprawling city, and in the intricate warrens beneath it.
It’s laborious. “Underground, the defender has the edge. We’re working to cut it down,” said Brig. Gen. Dan Goldfus, who commands the 98th Paratroopers Division of the Israeli military. He’s tasked with taking Khan Younis, the biggest city in the southern Gaza Strip and the army’s most complex challenge so far.
The tunnel was barely broader than his shoulders or taller than his helmet. “You want to avoid going chest-to-chest here,” he said. His troops, still exploring the labyrinth, are aiming to outflank the Hamas militants who built it, maneuvering above and below ground to flush them out.
“It’s a messy business,” Goldfus, a grizzled veteran of land, sea and airborne warfare, said of the battle underground.
The Israeli military largely controls the north of Gaza after heavy bombardment reduced much of its urban areas to rubble, along with many tunnels. Hamas’s battalions there were smashed, although pockets of resistance continue. Many thousands of civilians were killed too. Most of the population fled south.
But Israel’s progress in the south is facing a logjam. Its forces are closing in on a swollen population of displaced Palestinians who are running out of places to flee. An international outcry is mounting over the heavy toll of civilian deaths and injuries, raising pressure on Israel to change its tactics.
Nearly two million displaced civilians are being pushed into ever-fewer squares on Gaza’s chessboard. Hamas is able to move with them.
The process could culminate in a cease-fire that spares civilians but also allows Hamas to survive and recover, a strategic defeat for Israel. It also risks ending in an even greater bloodbath than in the north.
“Now that the people are clustered in the south, Israel can’t do what it did in the north without hundreds of thousands of deaths, something the U.S. is not going to support,” said Hussein Ibish, a senior resident scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute, a think tank in Washington.
At the same time, a political impasse between Israel’s government, the U.S. and key Arab countries over who should run Gaza after Hamas is also complicating the war. The lack of any government in Gaza is making it hard to deliver humanitarian aid, restore order and basic services, or facilitate the population’s re turn to the north. Israel’s military worries Hamas will try to exploit the vacuum and return to areas that the army vacates.
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The war is getting more and more dangerous if that is possible. Tens of thousands of Palestinians being squeezed into smaller areas and miles of tunnels under them are being used by Hamas with the IDF trying to root them out. The most dangerous of times.
Yes, it would be much better for the civilians if Egypt would allow them to exit Gaza into refugee camps in Egypt, to be held there at least until the end of fighting. But Egypt is not open to letting that happen and Hamas doesn't want that to happen either as it takes away from the publicity they count on. I don't know how this is all going to end.
Neither do I, Snuffy but whatever it is it is going to be deadly and destructive to Gaza.
Egypt does have a valid reason. They do not want any chance of Palestinian militants entering their country and launching attacks from Egyptian soil.
When dealing with terrorists, militants hiding among refugees is common. I've seen it first hand in Iraq and Afghanistan. Hamas is no different than al Queda or Taliban.
Without a doubt and they have made that clear on more than one occasion. Around 75,000 Palestinians are living in Egypt and that is enough for Sisi. Egypt has experienced terrorism from Hamas before in the Siani.
Yup, they are the same along with Hezbollah and Islamic Jihid and dozens of other terrorist groups.
Yep and they have good reason to not want more Palestinians living in Egypt. There are a lot of Arab countries surrounding Israel and none of them wish for more Palestinians to move in.
The irony could be that Iran, the nation that supports, arms and trains Hamas as its proxy, probably won't take them in either, and what about the Houthies in Yemen?
I'm waiting to see the backlash and expansion after Iran bombed Pakistan.
The supporters of Palestinians do not have to put up with them,
They want to keep them at arms length if not further.
Somewhere, somehow, somebody must have kicked you around some
Tell me why you want to lay there, revel in your abandon
Honey, it don't make no difference to me, baby
Everybody's had to fight to be free, you see
You don't have to live like a refugee
(Don't have to live like a refugee)
No baby you don't have to live like a refugee
(Don't have to live like a refugee)
Israel has made peace with two Arab countries: Egypt and Jordan. In both cases, the principal quid pro quo was recognizing Israel's right to exist. Recognizing Israel's right to exist would pull the rug from under Netanyahu.
So the method for achieving peace is known and proven.
But Hamas's leadership doesn't really want peace. Hamas would then have no justification for continuing tight control over the Palestinian People. Being master at home is everything for Hamas Kinda like Netanyahu in Israel.
Neither side's leadership really wants peace.