2024-03-06 04:33:16
At the end of the fifth month of the war, Israel seems stuck, in the south as well as in the north. Like a gambler who insists on putting all the chips on only one number in the roulette, the IDF invests all its resources in the pursuit, so far fruitless, of Sinwar. However, the pile of chips is shrinking – both in armaments, in the attrition of the forces and especially in international legitimacy .
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At the beginning of the war, in less than two months, the IDF succeeded in subduing the two strongest divisions of Hamas in the north of the Gaza Strip and capturing the city of Gaza, which is four times larger than Khan Yunis. Since then, the 98th Division has been operating in Khan Yunis for three and a half months, with the main force of the IDF L is assigned to her. The Khan Yunis Brigade of Hamas has already been subdued, but the division is completely engrossed in trying to bring Sinwar.
Maybe it will succeed or maybe not, but in the meantime, with each passing day, the forces of the division, which have hardly been refreshed, are being eroded, and worse than that – the long rope that the United States gave Israel to destroy Hamas, is getting shorter and shorter. If this bet fails, Israel may find itself without having achieved the leadership of Hamas and without breaking the rule of its fighting force.
IDF forces in the Gaza Strip – Iron Swords (Photo: IDF Spokesman)
From the beginning, Israel went to war with Hamas with the rationale of a “protective wall”: gaining operational control of the territory, followed by years of raids that would uproot any terrorist infrastructure that would grow until they suppressed it completely. In the north of the Strip it worked great, but at some point it seems that our security elite fell in love with the idea of getting a victory photo in the form of Sinwar’s impaled head.
The goal is worthy, but it does not justify all the means. If Sinwar is eliminated, he will be replaced, but if we end the war when there is another whole brigade of Hamas in Rafah and two more battalions in the center of the Gaza Strip – we have lost.
One can understand the eagerness of the security elite to reach the leadership of Hamas. For the elite tarnished by the failure of the 7.10, this could have been a “photo finish” that would allow her to retire with dignity. But this pursuit is beginning to impair the ability to achieve the ultimate goal of the war: the destruction of the military and governmental power of Hamas.
Yahya Sinwar (Photo: Reuters)
Unbelievably late, the Chief of Staff is calling for the start of the internal investigations into the events of 10/7 this weekend. For five months, the Chief of Staff postponed this moment, and if the State Comptroller hadn’t been blowing behind his back – the investigations would probably have been postponed even longer. The main purpose of the investigations is learning, but they will also point to the personal responsibility of those concerned and show them the way out.
They could and should have been started much earlier, when the people’s memory was still fresh and the narrative had not yet been established. From now on, the officials’ preoccupation with erasing the stain of the massacre’s failure is beginning to be a burden on the IDF, which needs to prepare for the continuation of the fighting in the south and to prepare for the campaign in the north. If until now the IDF’s wagon was uphill, in fighting in the south as well as in the north, now we are on the plain, and on the plain You can already start considering changing the horses.
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