Israel starts new major offensive in the Gaza strip
Israel’s army lost no time. As soon as US President Donald Trump had ended his Middle East trip on Friday, the Israeli troops began to expand their offensive in the Gaza Strip. Unlike before, the army, the IDF, will soon occupy large areas of Gazas permanently – with potentially dramatic consequences for Palestinians and Israelis.
The operation called « Gideon’s Lear » should report several stages: In the first phase that has already started, the air force Prepare the invasion of additional ground troops by means of an intensive bombing. According to the Hamas authorities in Gaza, over a hundred people are said to have died on Friday alone, including numerous civilians. In the second phase, soil troops are to take large areas and then set up so -called humanitarian zones there. Within these zones, private US companies should then be responsible for the distribution of relief goods-a plan that the UN and international aid organizations have sharply criticized, among other things because he would force numerous civilians to resort.
Many details of the tactics are still unclear
Many details of the project are still unclear. For example, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reports, the original operating plan, developed by the new IDF boss Eyal Zamir, originally intended to be very extensive soil operations, while the current preparations indicated significantly smaller operation. « I no longer understand the military approach myself, » says Michael Milshtein, chairman of the forum for Palestinian studies at the University of Tel Aviv, in an interview with this newspaper. « There is no planning, no strategy. » The government’s argument that military pressure will force Hamas to relieve the remaining Israeli hostages is « nonsense »: in the 19 months since Hamas’s terrorist attack, it has long been shown that this tactic does not work.
« I am very, very concerned, » says Milshtein, who used to head the Palestinian affairs department in Israeli military secret service. « Even if nobody speaks it: the really hard fights are still ahead of us. Hamas has distributed its men in the urban centers in Gaza and is now waiting for Israeli maneuvers. And as soon as it starts, we will experience miserable losses among the soldiers – not to mention the many Palestinians who will come. » Surveys already show that the majority of the Israelis end up with an end to the war in exchange for the release of the other hostages. If more and more young soldiers have a goal for an unclear goal, the support for the war would continue to decrease.
Israel is likely to pay a high diplomatic price
Israel is also likely to pay a high price for the planned offensive. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s long-term dream of diplomatic relationships between Israel and Saudi Arabia seems to be realistic in view of the anger that Israel’s approach in Gaza triggered in large parts of the Arab world. Even the decades -old relationships with Egypt could threaten a serious crisis if Israel permanently occupies the Gaza strip bordering on Egypt, Milshtein warns.
With all of this, the most important question remains: What long -term goal is Israel’s government in Gaza? Netanyahu promises the « absolute victory » over Hamas without defining it in more detail. « Even if Hamas puts the hardest blow in its history, » says Milshtein, « she will continue to fight, be it with guerrilla tactics and attacks ». There is still the possibility that the big offensive will not occur: reports that Israel and Hamas are currently negotiating with new intensity about another ceasefire with the help of international intermediaries. In addition, Trump’s Vice President JD Vance is said to travel to Israel this week, possibly to compromise Netanyahu. Many hope for it in Israel.
