Israel has decided to occupy the entire Gaza Strip. At least, that’s what a senior official in Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said last night. There’s a lot to break down here, including whether this is just another threat, why it’s being announced now, and the historical ramifications it may have for IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir.
Let’s break it all down.
First, a caveat: when it comes to such major declarations, you always need to be cautious until the decision is final and IDF forces actually move. Nevertheless, this is what the official said last night: “We’re going to occupy the strip. The decision has been made. Hamas won’t release more hostages without total surrender, and we won’t surrender. If we don’t act now, the hostages will starve to death and Gaza will remain under Hamas’ control.”
Why the sudden drastic decision? For months, Israel was at a crossroads, and if we’re being honest, it was achieving neither victory over Hamas nor the hostages’ release. And with negotiations collapsing due to Hamas’ unrealistic demands, the decision to occupy the entire strip will be brought this week for the security cabinet’s approval, according to the official.
As for its implications for IDF operations in Gaza, if this goes ahead, the military will enter areas where it previously avoided, such as camps in central Gaza and Gaza City. More importantly: it means moving to defeat Hamas even in areas where hostages are held.
You may be wondering: is Israel definitely going to operate where there are hostages? All I can tell you is that I’ve quoted the official who said Israel will do just that. Readers of this newsletter will likely disagree over whether this is a mere negotiation tactic to pressure Hamas or if it’s the real deal. But the bottom line is this: if the official is correct, it means that Israel is planning something the likes of which we haven’t seen in the past 22 months.
We still have other lingering questions, however. First: why would Israel announce to the enemy its plans in advance? The first answer is, as mentioned above, that it may be a final attempt to pressure Hamas into agreeing to a hostage release deal.
But there’s another operational reason. Gaza has always been conquered the same way, since the days of King David, through to Australia’s campaign in WWI, the 1967 Six-Day-War, and today. And so, unlike with Hezbollah and Iran, Israel cannot surprise Hamas in a takeover of the strip, and as a result, it’s not making any operational sacrifices by announcing its intentions beforehand.
Now, for IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir. As part of their briefing to journalists, the official close to Netanyahu did not mince their words. “There will be operations even in areas where hostages are being held. If the chief of staff doesn’t agree, he should resign,” they said.
Higia Hazman.
Hatzlacha Raba
She’hecheyanu
May it happen very soon!
If Bibi who is a politician is for this solution and the military chief is against it, I recall reading that the Rebbe’s position was that we should defer to the military experts over politicians in matters of security.
Gaza should never have been abandoned according to the rebbe. No way should israel release thousands of terrorists for hostages as it encourages taking more hostages. Gaza must be under jewish control and jewish settlement as its part of eretz yisroel. Israel will not be in charge of 2 million gazans who want to leave for a better life. Within weeks emmigration of gazans will begin as bibi promised ben gvir and smotrich. Through conquering gaza the hostages will be released and there will be true peace and security. We finally have usa backing to do what is needed to… Read more »
Full occupation requires full scale invasion, humongous use of military resources, and then police and governance. is it to be annexed? become like pre 2005 – which was an unsuccessful arrangement? you’d have to displace everyone, do a deep clean, and then let only those back in who accept Israel’s governance, and they’re then citizens, which creates a new imbalance of citizenry. so this announcement seems to be loud but still futile and not constructive. Just a yell from frustration
Will not take long for complete conquest of gaza if israel fights to win and remove hamas completely. Gazans will be living in a small area of gaza not all over. They will jump at chance to leave to a better life elsewhere which they will be offered in a few weeks. There are countries who want them and gazans want to leave. Bibi said this to smotrich and ben gvir. 5 countries who want them. I just remember libya as one of them
Hatzlacha Rabba and safety to all soldiers and hostage.
We must have full control our thr entire land of Israel shlaimus Haaretz it will bring Moshiach quicker now Amen amen amen. !!!!
not occupy liberate