The last time the Israeli army tried to enter the Gaza Strip by land, things did not go well. It was the war of 2014. When they arrived at Shucaiyye neighborhood, Hamas set up an ambushwith and the columns of Israel were pinned down. A barrage of mortar and anti-tank missiles began. They had to call in the Air Force to raze the surrounding areas and get their soldiers out. The high command then decided to opt for massive and indiscriminate bombing. More than 2,200 Gazans died, most of them civilians, including half a thousand children.
“We don’t know what the Israeli Army will do now, because this war will be different: There is no doctrine or precedent for a major ground attack, because until now what they believed was air superiority and defensive shielding was enough,” he explains to this newspaper Guillermo Pulido, war analyst. “If they decide to enter by land, they will do the easy thing: raze everything with artillery and bombardments, take out the high points of the towers, and force the civilian population to leave the area before the infantry can enter.” They will enter with their heavily armored vehicles (Namer and Achzarit), special for urban guerrillas, with heavily armored, towerless battle tanks surrounding the entire armored vehicle.
Now, Israel He ordered a complete siege of the narrow Gaza Strip. There is a 365-kilometer zone (half of the city of Madrid) where at least 2.2 million people live. The Minister of Defense decided to cut off water, electricity, communications and supplies. This is the treatment that the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF or IDF) would inflict on what Yoav Galant calls “animals.” This type of siege is prohibited The United Nations reminded this on Tuesday in terms of international humanitarian law. However, this is the first military step in which the IDF seeks to soften the Strip before launching an all-out ground offensive. The aim is to end Hamas’ party regime. Destroy their leaders and militia, the Al Qassam brigades.
Army battalions are already deploying to the border. 700,000 reservists have been called up, but only a few tens of thousands have arrived so far. They nominally join Tzahal’s 180,000 active professional soldiers. In the Yom Kippur War 1973, Israel mobilized 400,000 reservists throughout the campaignIt took 18 days.
Military commanders warn that Gaza will be changed forever. They give no indication at this time whether they are planning a specific attack (like in 2014) or an attack. aerial bombardment as collective punishment in major cities (as in 2014). But the numbers point to a large-scale response, perhaps on several fronts.
“It looks like the Army is preparing for a war. regime change Loop and they will go in to try to overthrow Hamas,” he explained to this newspaper. Rob Geist Pinfold, PhD in strategic studies from Durham University in the United Kingdom. “This is the worst-case scenario for Israel. The only reason they didn’t do it sooner is because they knew not only would they suffer too many casualties, but they also had to think about what to do the day after they eliminated Hamas. Occupy the strip indefinitely? Install a puppet regime?” “We learned that things were not going well in Iraq or Afghanistan.”
There is Hamas target list What the IDF wanted to kill was prepared with data collected by internal informants and Israeli intelligence services. But they also have a network of tunnels, patiently dug over many years, that they will use to escape if the Army eventually lands on Gaza soil.
“They will prepare to hide and flee until Israel leaves or reduces its presence and re-emerges,” predicts Geist Pinfold, who holds dual British and Israeli citizenship and is an expert on security and strategy in Israel. He is the author of the book “Understanding the retreat of a region”. In his book “Israeli invasions and withdrawals” he analyzes, among other things, the Israeli army attacks and departures from Gaza.
Israel “rewriting your security policy as we speak”says the expert, after realizing what a wrong action it was. Egypt’s apparent inability to listen to the warnings revealed in the American press or its strategy of bringing brigades from southern Israel to the West Bank to protect settlers.
Will the civilians and soldiers kidnapped by Hamas be able to put an end to the cruelty of Israeli attacks so as not to harm them? The expert doubts this. “The army has already stated that it will be operational assuming they can’t do much for them, “Because they don’t know where they are, this causes great controversy in the country,” he says.
Nor will the already few restrictions intended to prevent the deaths of Palestinian civilians be respected. When Israel attacked Gaza before, it bombed hospitals, United Nations schools, ambulances… What will happen is unlike anything seen before, because the indiscriminate killing of civilians by a section of Hamas eliminated the drama “rules of engagement” The analyst points out that the Israeli Armed Forces have applied before. Now all these thoughts “come to second or third place.” The country is in shock and the aim is to maximize the damage to Hamas. And they have international support. Analysts in the US media called the operation “finish them!” applauding with screams. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen ignored the usual attitude in the EU and assured that “Israel has the right to defend itself now and in the days to come.”
withdrawal from Gaza
In 2004, then-Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon ordered the unilateral withdrawal of the Army and settlers from the Gaza Strip. Was it a strategic mistake? “I don’t believe it, but the idea that withdrawal makes them more vulnerable has become a myth that refuses to go away. However, there is no reason to think that an attack like Saturday’s cannot be carried out. With the presence of settlers in Gaza“, he says. “Maybe the victims would have been different, but it didn’t provide any strategic advantage and that’s why they left.”
Inside 2006The Israeli army entered the Strip with blood and fire to rescue kidnapped soldier Gilad Schalit. Israel was unable to secure his release until five years later, and only in exchange for more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners. Hamas is estimated to have more than 100 hostages, mostly civilians.
The largest-scale invasion of the entire 21st century, 2014. Following the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers, Tel Aviv launched Operation Mighty Cliff. The IDF deployed a dozen brigades (between 3,000 and 5,000 soldiers each) to the border. Land raids were made and clashes lasted 50 days. A ceasefire was reached under the mediation of Egypt.
Meanwhile, civilians have nowhere to hide. There almost 200,000 internally displacedBut another two million people have nowhere to go in one of the most densely populated regions in the world. Gaza is actually a large open-air prison city tightly closed by Israel and Hamas. There are some areas where there are no buildings, but they are actually deserts and it is impossible to move there while the war will last for weeks or months.