Only recently did the Chief of Staff, Lt. Col. Aviv Kochavi, remind us that the IDF is currently dealing with six battlefields - some of which it has never operated in.
These include the Iranian arena, in which Israel is working to stop Tehran's race to the core;
The Syrian arena and the Lebanese arena, and according to reports, recently also the Iraqi and the southern arena, coming from the Red Sea and Yemen - on all of which Iran imposes its heavy shadow;
And finally - the Palestinian arena, in Judea and Samaria and in the Gaza Strip.
The 11th day of Operation The Guardian of the Walls: Direct attack on the IDF in Be'er Sheva // Photo: Yedioth from the field by telegram
The IDF has been investing most of its efforts in recent months in preparing for the possibility that Iran will cross the point of no return on the way to producing a nuclear bomb. The closest one around her.
The threats - immediate and long-term - that face Israel in these arenas of combat and action must not be taken lightly.
But the fact is that in the last decade the scene of the active confrontation in which the IDF found itself fighting again and again, and which even claimed casualties - soldiers and civilians - was rather intense. , Black Belt (2019) and last by the hour - Operation Guardian of the Walls (May 2021).
Alongside these operations, we should mention the daily friction along the border fence between us and Gaza, from launching incendiary balloons at Israel, to riots along the fence and ending with attempts by terrorist squads to infiltrate Israeli territory using tunnels dug by Hamas along and across the Strip.
Residents of the south, but also residents of Gush Dan and Jerusalem, were repeatedly forced to seek shelter in sheltered rooms.
Not because of missile fire from Iran or even Lebanon, but because of missile fire by Hamas.
With due caution, it can be assumed that the next round of confrontation will also be against the Gaza Strip, and not in other conflict arenas.
Residents repeatedly run to shelters because of Hamas.
Rocket launch from the Gaza Strip, Photo: AFP
Gaza's uniqueness lies not only in being an active and explosive arena, where Israel has fought more in the last decade than in any other arena, but also in the fact that it is an arena in front of which Israel's playing cards and ability to influence and deter are limited and lacking.
True, the struggle in Iran is heating up and even gaining momentum, but both sides - the Israeli and the Iranian - are in complete control of the course of events, and show restraint and restraint in the absence of any interest or interest in a flare-up and deterioration into a comprehensive confrontation.
Hezbollah is also a restrained and deterrent organization, aware of the price it may pay in the event of a round of fighting with Israel.
This is not the case with Hamas in Gaza, which is not strong enough like Hezbollah and does not act like it according to state logic, so it is difficult to deter it and force it to exercise restraint and restraint.
The reality in Gaza is complex due to the fact that Israel has not really disengaged from the Gaza Strip.
After all, it still provides Gaza residents with electricity, water, fuel, and even food and dollars.
This dependence makes the peace along the border a hostage for food and fuel supplies, and for the rest of the dollars in the Gaza Strip, since Hamas' way of achieving them is by firing missiles at Israel.
Apart from that, it should be remembered that the attempts to cut off Hamas Gaza from Judea and Samaria and also from Jerusalem did not go well, and therefore a boil at the Nablus Gate or on the Temple Mount will continue to lead to a flare-up on the Gaza border as well.
Israel has no answer
The truth is that Hamas does not have the same ability to destroy and damage as other enemies, but it systematically improves its capabilities.
For the evidence, the daring and the operational capability he shows in launching infiltrating squads into Israeli territory, using tunnels.
More importantly, it also works successfully to increase its missile inventory, range and accuracy.
More articles in the "Threats Map" series
• Assad asked for help from the Iranians - and now wonders how to get rid of them
• The first cyber war: the goal of the attackers is to embarrass Israel
• Even in the shadow of the crisis, and perhaps because of it - the threat from Lebanon is more dangerous than ever
Israel does not have a good answer to the Hamas challenge, apart from using lethal fire that causes destruction in the Gaza Strip but does not deny Hamas its operational capabilities, and does not guarantee, as in Lebanon, long-term peace.
In the absence of a solution, Gaza will continue to harass us.
November is a reminder of all this.
Beginning with the ninth anniversary of Operation Pillar of Cloud, which began on November 14, with the assassination of Hamas military commander Ahmad al-Jabri, through an IDF operation in Khan Yunis that went awry on November 11, 2018, in which Lt. Col. M. was killed, and finally - Operation Black belt, which began on November 12, 2019 following the assassination of senior Islamic Jihad figure, Baha'u Abu al-'Ata.
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