Reuters quoted retired Israeli General Giora Eiland as saying that the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu He did not take advantage of the opportunity to kill Sinwar to end the war.
Getting involved in open war
Eiland, according to the agency, was skeptical of the Israeli government’s strategy in Gaza, while former security officials confirm that Israeli army He risks getting involved in an open campaign that requires a permanent presence in the sector instead of the best approach through quick and decisive action.
“The Israeli government is acting in complete contradiction to the concept of Israeli security,” General Yom Tov Samiya, former head of Southern Command, told Israel’s public broadcaster Radio Kan.
In the absence of an agreed upon strategy, Israel risks sinking into a quagmire Gaza In the foreseeable future, says Ofer Shelah, a senior researcher at Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv.
He said: “The situation is currently very dangerous for Israel. We are heading towards a situation in which Israel is considered the de facto ruler in Gaza.”
Meanwhile, a former senior Israeli military official with direct experience in the sector believes that “after the killing Sinwar“There is no longer any logic that justifies staying in Gaza.”
Generals plan
Eiland, the former head of Israel’s National Security Council, was the lead author of the much-discussed proposal called “Generals plan“, which could lead to the rapid evacuation of civilians from northern Gaza before starving out the surviving Hamas fighters by cutting off their water and food supplies, according to Reuters.
Israeli moves this month sparked Palestinian accusations that the army had adopted the Eland plan, which it envisioned as a short-term measure to confront… agitation In the north, but the Palestinians believe that it aims to permanently cleanse the area to create a buffer zone for the army after the war.
Eland himself believes that the strategy being followed does not represent his plan nor a traditional occupation.
“I don’t know exactly what’s going on,” Eiland told Reuters Jabalia (North Gaza)… But I believe that the Israeli forces are doing something that falls between the two alternatives, the normal military attack and my plan.”
Hamas strategy
With the Israeli army focusing on operations in Lebanon The number of divisions involved in the war in Gaza decreased to two divisions compared to five divisions at the beginning of the war, and each division, according to Israeli estimates, includes between 10 and 15 thousand soldiers.
And destiny Israeli army At the beginning of the war, Hamas had 25 battalions, and he says that they were destroyed a long time ago, and that nearly half of its forces, or about 17,000 to 18,000 fighters, were killed.
But groups of fighters are still carrying out sneak attacks in hit-and-run fashion against Israeli forces.
A Hamas fighter told Reuters: “We do not stand randomly against tanks on the ground and choose our targets.”
He added: “We are working in a way that enables us to withstand and fight as long as possible.”
Although these methods of fighting will not prevent the Israeli army from moving throughout Gaza whenever it wants, they can still impose a significant cost on Israel, according to observers.
Post-war
The Israeli campaign resulted in the deaths of about 43,000 Palestinians, according to health officials in Gaza, and the Strip was largely transformed into a wasteland, which will require billions of dollars in international aid to rebuild.
Months ago, disagreements surfaced between Netanyahu and the Defense Minister Yoav Galant In reflection of a broader division between the ruling coalition and the army, which has always favored reaching an agreement to end the fighting and return the hostages.
The former senior Israeli military official points out that specific systematic operations should be carried out in the future if Hamas regroups and resumes attacks on Israel, but leaving forces permanently in Gaza poses a great risk.
Netanyahu’s office said on Thursday that Israeli negotiators will head to… Qatar this week to join long-stalled talks on reaching a ceasefire agreement and releasing the hostages, but the position of Hamas and who Israel will agree to take over management of the Strip when the fighting stops remains unclear.
Netanyahu has denied any plans to remain in Gaza or allow Israeli settlers to return, something many Palestinians fear.
But the hardline pro-settler parties in his ruling coalition and many in Likud Party To which Netanyahu belongs, they want nothing more than abolition Disengagement plan Israeli unilateralism carried out by former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in 2005, which resulted in the evacuation of Israeli settlers from Gaza.
