Last updated: 30.10.2023, 04:54 a.m.
By: Bedrettin Bölükbasi
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Israeli "Merkava" tanks manoeuvre on a hilltop in front of the rubble desert of Gaza City. © Fadel Senna/AFP
The last time Israeli ground troops were in the Gaza Strip was in 2014. With the expansion of the war against Hamas, the army is now once again entering Gaza soil. But the current war cannot be compared with any of the previous conflicts.
Tel Aviv – For the first time in a decade, Israeli tanks are back in action in the Gaza Strip. Recent videos from the army show armored vehicles rolling over sandy ground in the north of the coastal strip. Next to them are soldiers in protective gear with large backpacks and assault rifles. After three weeks of massive air strikes in the densely populated area, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is now talking about the "second phase" of the war with the expansion of ground operations. The aim is to destroy the military capabilities of the Islamist Palestinian organization Hamas in the Gaza Strip, to end its rule and to bring the at least 230 hostages back home.
After the worst massacre in Israel's history, which Hamas carried out in the border area on October 7, the soldiers are "determined and highly motivated," according to the military. Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi said they would "never forget the children who were murdered." Take the atrocity images "with you to the battlefield".
War in Israel: Israeli Security Expert Expects "Blitzkrieg"
According to an Israeli security expert, the army is facing a long, intense conflict. "It will not be a blitzkrieg and not a six-day war," says Amos Yadlin, former head of Israeli military intelligence. The army will move forward "meter by meter" to reduce civilian casualties and "kill as many Hamas terrorists as possible." Most opponents would flee into tunnels or the "underground city" of Hamas, according to Jadlin, former head of the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) in Tel Aviv. "The challenge will be to destroy the tunnels or get them out – with the help of one technique or another."
The biggest limitation is the hostages, says Jadlin. However, given the high number of casualties among the Palestinian population, pressure is also growing on Israel to agree to a ceasefire. Jadlin thinks that Hamas leader Jihia al-Sinwar is also under pressure from his own people, "who say we've gone too far, it's time to stop." They urged a prisoner exchange with Israel, "otherwise Gaza will soon look like Dresden (after World War II)." Sinwar claimed on Saturday that the Palestinian organization was ready to conclude an agreement on a prisoner exchange immediately.
The families of the Israeli hostages Netanyahu met for the first time on Saturday are also calling for an immediate deal to release their loved ones. Whether Israel's leadership will agree to release thousands of Palestinian prisoners for the 229 hostages remains to be seen.
War in Israel: Military Launches Ground Activity Against Hamas in the Gaza Strip
On Sunday, the army said it had hit another 24 Hamas targets in the past 450 hours and was "gradually" reinforcing its ground forces in the Gaza Strip. Meanwhile, according to TV reports, thousands of civilians continue to be in the vicinity of Shifa Hospital in Gaza, which according to Israel also serves as a Hamas command center. The people remained in the area of the largest clinic in the Gaza Strip, which they apparently consider a place of refuge.
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The Israeli army again called on civilians in the north of the Gaza Strip to move south. There, people could "receive water, food and medicine," said army spokesman Daniel Hagari. He also announced an expansion of "Egypt- and U.S.-led humanitarian operations in the Gaza Strip" on Sunday.
The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) warned of a breakdown of civil order in the Gaza Strip. Flour and other basic necessities were taken by residents from several warehouses, UNRWA's head for the Gaza Strip, Thomas White, said on Sunday. This is "a worrying sign that after three weeks of war and close lockdown, civil order is beginning to disintegrate."