Analysts said Tuesday that Israel's overnight attack on Gaza stopped a direct ground invasion, suggesting its leaders may be waiting for Hamas' reaction before returning to a full-scale ground war.
Health officials said the Israeli strike killed hundreds of people and followed weeks of fruitless negotiations to expand to the country's truce with Hamas. Negotiations were deadlocked after Israel urged Hamas to release large numbers of hostages, a move that was unwilling to allow Israel to do so after the war was over with Israeli action in Gaza.
Analysts say the nature of Israel's strikes suggests that its leadership is trying to force Hamas to compromise in these negotiations, a deadly and risky strategy that could still lead to a full-scale war.
Israeli Michael Milstein said that by focusing on missile strikes rather than ground operations, Israel is seeking to “push Hamas to show greater flexibility”.
“I personally think that Hamas will likely be ready to give up their red line,” Milstein said. “I'm very worried that within a few days we will find ourselves in a limited war of loss: ongoing air strikes, but Hamas is not ready.”
Six hours after the bombing began, Hamas still did not fire backwards—either because its military capabilities were so reduced in an earlier stage of the war, or because it tried to avoid a strong Israeli reaction.
But there is no public indication of retreating in negotiations. Hamas condemned the strike in a statement, saying Israel condemned the remaining hostages in Gaza to “an unknown fate” and called for “full responsibility for breach and overturning the agreement.”
Israel's far-right finance minister Bezalel Smotrich said in a statement that Israel's goal is to “destroy Hamas”, expressing hope that the new attack will evolve into “an action completely different from what has been done so far.”
However, in the formal statement announcing major military operations, the Israeli government was more cautious. It avoids mentioning how long the operation will last, or whether it includes ground invasions needed to force Hamas from power. By the morning, Israeli troops ordered Palestinian civilians to leave two areas near Israel's Gaza border, but it stopped again saying it was deploying troops and tanks.
Rawan Sheikh Ahmad Contribution report.
