Click to see full-size image. (Israeli Defense Forces)
Chief of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) Southern Command, Maj. Gen. Yaniv Asor, has been pushing for and recommending a new offensive against the Hamas Movement in the Gaza Strip during General Staff and political-level discussions, Ynet and Yedioth Ahronoth reported on June 2.
Sources familiar with the discussions, which took place in recent weeks, told the Israeli news outlets that Asor has already presented operational plans and is advocating for their implementation, arguing that he can dismantle Hamas’ military wing, the al-Qassam Brigades, within six to 10 weeks.
The commander even presented Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir and the political leadership with the anticipated costs and implications, including expected casualties among Israeli forces, according to the sources.
The proposal comes amid the reality that Hamas continues to govern and build up its strength in roughly 40 percent of the Gaza Strip that remains under its control.
However, political leaders have been reluctant to embrace Asor’s recommendation, arguing that Israel cannot wage an intensive campaign on all fronts simultaneously and must prioritize its arenas of conflict, with Lebanon and Iran currently considered the primary fronts.
“There have been several discussions about Gaza. We want to maintain a hierarchy of arenas in terms of resources and attention. Everything is supposedly waiting for Hamas’ answer on whether it is willing to disarm, but it is clear that it will not do so, and it is clear that this will ultimately be our task. The question is whether it is right to return now to an intensive ground maneuver with the cost of casualties among our forces, or whether we should first try to strangle them economically, change the distribution of humanitarian aid, and then, once the Lebanon front stabilizes, return to focusing more on Gaza,” a senior political official told Ynet and Yedioth Ahronoth.
The IDF continued to carry out strikes in Gaza even after a ceasefire went into effect last year as a part of a complete peace plan put together by the United States.
Some of the recent strikes even targeted senior members of Hamas. The group’s military chief, Izz al-Din al-Haddad, was killed in a strike on May 15, and his successor, Mohammed Odeh, was targeted just eleven days later.
After the assassination of Odeh, Katz reiterated Israel’s goals of removing Hamas from power in Gaza and advancing what he described as a “voluntary emigration” from the enclave, “at the right time and in the right manner.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu went on later to reveal that he had ordered the IDF to take control of 70 percent of Gaza.
“At this point, we are fully in control of 60% of the territory of the Gaza Strip… and my directive is to get to… 70%,” Netanyahu said, in remarks delivered at a conference held by the Ein Prat Leadership Academy on May 28.
When one audience member shouted out that Israel should take “100 percent” of the territory in the Strip, Netanyahu responded, “First 70%. We’ll start with that.
While the recent report by Ynet and Yedioth Ahronoth indicate that Israeli political leaders are not currently interested in a new offensive against Hamas, the recent remarks by Netanyahu and Katz suggests exactly the opposite. There are clear signs that the IDF could launch such an offensive soon.
Hamas has been reportedly rearming, and preparing for such a scenario. It is highly unlikely that a new offensive by the IDF will end the group. However, it is guaranteed to make the already catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza even worse, and going back to Netanyahu and Katz’s remarks, this may be the real goal.
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