Occupied Jerusalem- “There is still a long way to go to resolve, as it has become clear that the Hamas movement is an army of endless terror… Scenes from the city of Khan Yunis,” with these words, the military correspondent for the newspaper “Yedioth Ahronoth,” Yoav Zaytoun, titled his report in which he recorded his impressions of the ground battles in Shuja’iya. Jabalia and Khan Yunis.
These impressions, which the military correspondent documented while accompanying the occupation forces, are consistent with the prevailing belief of the Israeli army that the war on Gaza will continue for several months to come, and any announcement of the destruction of Hamas’ military force and the overthrow of its rule in the Gaza Strip soon is considered disconnected from reality.
In Khan Yunis, Zaitoun describes the ground battles and clashes, saying, “The fighting, in addition to the presence of the civilian population who had not been evacuated, has become slow and dangerous. Soldiers are preparing to launch special attacks on specific targets. Suddenly, militants are launching hand grenades even from cities and areas whose residents have been displaced.”
The military correspondent pointed out that the Israeli army is using members of the “commando” unit to carry out special operations and procedures that would shake the cage – referring to the network of tunnels – in which senior Hamas officials are hiding, but to no avail. In contrast to the northern Gaza Strip, the situation in Khan Yunus is different and more complex.
The war is still far from over
Soldiers from battalion combat teams move in with tanks, engineering bulldozers, and infantry to attack designated targets, but the military correspondent says, “Gazans in some cases continue their routine and normal lives next to Israeli forces, moving through stores, schools, Hamas-affiliated civilian public institutions, and commercial centers.”
In light of this reality, the Israeli army forces in Khan Yunis will also have to, the military correspondent says, “deal with thousands more Hamas fighters who managed to escape from the northern Gaza Strip at the beginning of the ground maneuver, and reinforced the local brigades in the city.”
Zaitoun adds that the Israeli army’s mission in Khan Yunis is divided “into two dimensions, the upper city visible to the eye, and the lower dimension, which was designed as a separate underground world within the tunnel network, where, according to Israeli army estimates, senior Hamas leaders are located.”
The same war correspondent presents what he considers “important evidence of Hamas’s control over the Khan Yunis Brigades,” concluding that the military operation in the city must continue for several more weeks, perhaps with the priority of deepening the incursion, but without more fighting in crowded neighborhoods or in high-rise buildings. Concentrating the fighting in open rural areas.
The correspondent confirms that, as he put it, other pockets of resistance remain even in the northern Gaza Strip. The military correspondent says, “The army forces that arrived and took control of the area at the beginning of the ground maneuver are still facing resistance, and are engaged in armed clashes with Hamas fighters, and this is the reality in Jabalia.” And Shuja’iya.”
With Hamas’s endless arsenal of military equipment and means, the military correspondent concluded, “The Israeli army has come to the conclusion that the end of the war is still many months away, and every imminent announcement of Hamas’s defeat and destruction is certainly divorced from reality and an illusion and a mirage.”
Comprehensive exchange deal
In the same context, the military analyst for the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, Amos Harel, reviewed the declared Israeli goals behind the war and the ground military operation in the Gaza Strip, which are summarized in overthrowing Hamas’ rule, destroying its military power, and liberating all the Israeli detainees, saying that “the two goals of the ground operation collide again, and all An additional day poses a deadly danger to the kidnappers.”
After a month and a half of ground incursion into the Gaza Strip, the military analyst says, “It is difficult to see how the army can dismantle Hamas’ rule and liberate the detainees. Despite the demands of the families of the kidnapped, the Israeli government is delaying the resumption of negotiations due to the army’s fears of harming the continuation of the fighting, as well as Netanyahu’s political considerations.” “.
The same spokesman explained that the incident in the Shuja’iya neighborhood and the mistaken killing of 3 kidnappers by Israeli army fire shows that the ground incursion and the intensification of military operations did not liberate any hostage, not even one alive, but rather it proved that it constituted a deadly threat to the lives of the detainees, and it also inflicted heavy losses on the Israeli army. Heavy losses among the forces, including officers and soldiers.
The military analyst believes that if the incident in the Shujaiya neighborhood had ended “with the heroic rescue of the kidnappers, there is no doubt that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would have addressed the Israeli public and boasted that only his firm policy against terrorism led to an achievement.”
But on the ground, the military analyst says, “The opposite happened. Netanyahu simply disappeared as if he was not a leader. He fears the disintegration of his government if he submits to a comprehensive deal that would empty Israeli prisons of Palestinian prisoners, while the army does not want to stop fighting for the sake of a small deal.” “For fear of losing the momentum of the attack in the north and south of the Gaza Strip.”
Tactical successes for Hamas
In an indication that the ground incursion did not contribute to the liberation of any of the detainees, and the incidents of clashes and battles in the northern Gaza Strip, and in the areas that the army announced were under its military control, the military correspondent for the newspaper “Maariv”, Lev Ram, believes that “there was no room for statements as if victory was near.” “.
From the point of view of the military analyst, the war in Gaza is not a show war, saying, “This is a difficult war that requires time and awareness that in addition to operational achievements, there will also be difficult events for the army, and tactical successes for Hamas, which is far from raising the white flag.”
Based on the assumption of the Israeli security establishment, Ram says that “until Hamas’s military capabilities are dismantled, it will require many months of fighting, as the most urgent goal is the task of returning the kidnapped people to the country.”
The maneuver did not free the detainees
The military analyst explained that the Shujaiya incident clearly shows the extent of the need to liberate the kidnapped people, pointing out that it was possible to respond to the demand to stop fighting in order to release another group of kidnapped people as part of an exchange deal, but he says, “There was not really a detailed plan on the government’s agenda.” “Israel, which adhered to the military option.”
The same spokesman pointed out that the Israeli establishment still adheres to the position that only continued military pressure on Hamas will lead to progress in the issue of the kidnapped, and added, in the same context, “The Israeli army continues its intensive attacks in the Gaza Strip and military pressure on Hamas leaders, but without “There has been no progress in the issue of the kidnappers until this stage.”
Ram believes that the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) has realized the importance of the protests and pressure exerted by the families of the kidnapped on the government and on Israeli public opinion, as it has now demanded, as a precondition for new prisoner exchange negotiations, that the Israeli army cease fire immediately.
