Gaza Fighting Continues as Israel Mulls Next Steps of Offensive
Strategic advances and challenges in Gaza: A comprehensive overview
Sunday marked the 44th day of fighting between Israel and Hamas. The Israeli military continues its operations in the Gaza Strip, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to push forward with the offensive until Hamas is overthrown and the 240 hostages that were taken by the terrorist organization are released. All the while, Israel is under international pressure to reach a cease-fire.
“We have achieved much; we have eliminated thousands of terrorists. We have eliminated senior commanders. We have destroyed administrative centers. We have destroyed tunnels and … we will continue onward with full force,” Netanyahu said in a televised address to the nation.
“Israel is about halfway from achieving its goals,” said Professor Eitan Shamir, director of the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies. “The military has shown it is able to reach anywhere and achieve its goals while utilizing its power; this is very important.”
“There is a lot of fighting still left to do,” Shamir added.
Netanyahu brushed off the international pressure that his government faces now.
“I reject these pressures and say to the world: We will continue to fight until victory—until we destroy Hamas and bring our hostages back home,” Netanyahu said.
The war began after a surprise offensive by Hamas on Israel’s south killed approximately 1,200 Israelis and wounded thousands of others, in addition to the 240 people, most of them Israeli citizens, taken hostage by Hamas.
Israel immediately began a response with a massive air campaign against the Gaza Strip, followed weeks later with a ground incursion. According to the Hamas-run health ministry, more than 11,500 Palestinians have been killed since the war began, with almost 30,000 people injured. Over 60 Israeli soldiers have been killed since the beginning of the ground operation.
Over the weekend, Israeli forces continued their operation in Gaza’s Shifa Hospital, the largest medical center in the Gaza Strip. Despite the controversy of an armed operation in a hospital, Israel maintains that there is a Hamas command center in the underground area of the hospital. The Palestinians deny this. According to the United Nations, over 200 patients still remain in the hospital. Thirty-one premature babies in critical condition were evacuated to Egypt.
So far, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) has focused its ground operation on the northern Gaza Strip. Since the beginning of the war, the IDF has called on residents of the territory to evacuate to the southern part of the Gaza Strip.
“The army has gained control over most of the north,” Shamir told The Media Line. “However, the intense weekend fighting proves there is still territory there that needs to be taken over.”
Ten Israeli soldiers were killed on Saturday fighting in the Gaza Strip, one of the highest single-day death tolls since the war began.
“There is tough fighting in very complex territory,” said Dr. Eran Lerman, vice president of the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security. “The military has displayed impressive abilities in operating in a three-dimensional manner with precise artillery fire, advanced aerial abilities, and ground forces that are all closely coordinated.”
Also Saturday, dozens of Palestinians were reportedly killed by an airstrike that hit a UN shelter in the Jabaliya refugee camp located in the northern Gaza Strip.
Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) for Palestinian Refugees, condemned the strike.
“Constant horrors, another UNRWA school bombarded several times in the north of Gaza sheltering more than 4,000 people. Dozens reported killed including children. Second time in less than 24 hours schools are not spared,” Lazzarini posted on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. “ENOUGH, these horrors must stop.”
To appease international opinion—and satisfy the US—Israel continued to allow for the entrance of humanitarian aid, including food, water, and medical supplies into the impoverished territory. Two fuel tankers were also given permission to enter daily to avoid what is believed to be an impending humanitarian crisis. Israel has so far resisted the request to allow for the entrance of fuel into Gaza, for fear Hamas will use it for military purposes. The fuel is necessary to power generators, especially for hospitals, as Israel cut off Gaza’s electricity supply in the first days of the fighting.
“Even our best friends would be hard-pressed to maintain their support for us in the long-term and that would make it hard for us to complete the war,” Netanyahu said on Saturday, amid widespread criticism in Israel against humanitarian aid for Gaza. Relatives of the hostages were angry that there were no humanitarian gestures for their loved ones, many of them elderly and children, while in captivity.
Amid the public outcry, Netanyahu pointed out the military backed the move, also fearing the outbreak of a pandemic in the Gaza Strip which would reach the soldiers as well.
The US has provided Israel with a steady supply of ammunition together with a guarantee to continuously replenish its supply of air-defense rockets. It has also mobilized forces and aircraft in the region closer to Israel. Last month, the US House of Representatives approved a $14 billion military aid package to Israel in addition to the annual aid already granted.
From the beginning of the fighting, the US has demanded that Israel ensure that a humanitarian crisis in Gaza does not ensue. In an op-ed published Saturday in the Washington Post, US President Joe Biden reiterated his commitment to avoid a humanitarian crisis in Gaza, clearly delineating Israel’s obligation to ensure this.
“Israel needs to buy time in order to continue the military operation,” said Shamir. “[However], it cannot say no to American requests, after being given such an umbrella, both a diplomatic and military one.”
More than a week ago, the Israeli military announced a temporary pause in hostilities in two areas of the Gaza Strip in order to allow more residents passage towards the southern Gaza Strip. The IDF had been giving such windows daily in one area, adding a “temporary tactical suspension” in another area for “humanitarian purposes.”
“There is no doubt that the humanitarian considerations are a burden on the operational considerations,” said Lerman. “But the army is very much attuned to what moves the hands of the clock.”
However, Israeli defense officials indicated that the ground operation would likely widen to include those areas.
The challenge in the south is no small one. A large part of Gaza’s population has been evacuated there. There are likely many Hamas … [combatants] there and perhaps also many hostages. The list of challenges is not short.
“The challenge in the south is no small one,” Shamir said. “A large part of Gaza’s population has been evacuated there. There are likely many Hamas … [combatants] there and perhaps also many hostages. The list of challenges is not short.”
The greatest challenge the Israeli military faces is the vast number of tunnels believed to be used by Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Much of the terrorist infrastructure is thought to be in an intricate underground web. Also, likely hidden underground are many of the hostages, limiting Israel’s ability to operate against them.
“There is an inherent tension between Israel’s main goals,” Lerman told The Media Line. “Hamas will use the hostages in order to block Israel’s offensive effort.”
As the fighting continued, relatives of Israelis being held hostage in Gaza marched to Jerusalem and held a massive rally with thousands of supporters in front of Netanyahu’s office. They called for the immediate release of their loved ones, demanding Netanyahu and other senior officials meet with them and update them on the status of negotiations.
Marchers arrive in Jerusalem, Nov. 18, 2023. (Courtesy Emanuel Abady)
Various media reports indicated a deal between Hamas and Israel was imminent, one that would see a temporary cease-fire in exchange for the release of tens of hostages.
“The army appears to not oppose such an agreement because its hold on the territory in the north is strong—despite the complexities and the ongoing fighting,” said Lerman.
The Israeli premier denied the reports, telling Israelis he would inform them once there was concrete information.
The fighting in Gaza poses Israel with myriad challenges that do not age well.
“In the operational perspective, there is a need to operate with care and without haste in order to avoid casualties among the soldiers, civilian casualties among Palestinians and avoid risking the hostages as much as possible,” said Shamir. “This is a tricky triangle that merits a lot of caution. Such complex urban warfare needs to be undertaken extremely slowly.”
With public pressure to release the hostages mounting, the government has difficult choices to make and pressing questions to answer.
“As the fighting progresses, the dilemma becomes more acute,” Lerman summarized. “If the goal is to deny Hamas its ability to be a ruling power in Gaza, what motivation will it have to release the hostages? And on the contrary, if Hamas remains and is victorious, how effective will Israel’s military operation be?”
