The British newspaper The Economist published a report, in which it said that despite the intensification of fighting between the Israeli army and the Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip, it is certain that the current attack is the last large-scale Israeli operation in this war, although Tel Aviv has not You get the "image of victory" that the Israelis seek, pointing out that US pressure on Israel has been secretly escalating recently.

The newspaper’s report explained that the occupation army sent an entire division to and around the city of Khan Yunis in the south of the Gaza Strip, while 3 other divisions from the Armored Corps are still continuing their operations in the northern Gaza Strip.

The next phase of the war

The newspaper quoted a security official as saying that the Israeli army has been at the height of its deployment for more than two months, and that "the next stage will be a less intense mobile campaign."

The Economist also asked in its report what it described as the most important question about whether this shift - to a reduced campaign - would frustrate the main goal of the war, which is to destroy the military capabilities of the Hamas movement.

According to the report, Israel has little choice but to reduce its operations, in light of the United States’ insistence - its main ally and arms supplier - on reducing the level of firepower to avoid continuing this killing of civilians, as well as in light of the increasing pressure on the Israeli economy resulting from the mobilization of 360,000 reserve soldiers.

According to the newspaper, with the end of the most violent phases of the military operation approaching, Israel is trying to give its citizens the impression that the Hamas resistance is collapsing and that the army now controls a large area of the Gaza Strip. However, despite everything it did for that, it did not obtain the “image of victory” that the Israelis seek. .

The Economist also reported that the Israeli army may have eliminated half of Hamas's force, which the newspaper estimated at about 30,000 fighters, but it confirmed that the movement still has thousands of fighters, who continue to emerge from tunnels and ambush Israeli soldiers, in addition to dozens of Israeli prisoners. They are still in the grip of the movement and under the threat of the continuing Israeli bombing of Gaza.

The newspaper's report highlighted that Tel Aviv was unable to eliminate Hamas' leadership or destroy its infrastructure. Although it killed a number of field commanders, it did not succeed in eliminating the movement's leader in Gaza, Yahya al-Sinwar, or the commander of the Qassam Brigades, the movement's military wing, Muhammad al-Deif, or His deputy, Marwan Issa.

Washington pressure

In addition, the newspaper indicated that there is no public indication that it is putting pressure on Israel, especially after the veto that it used in the Security Council on the eighth of this month to block a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, and it also provides it with more weapons, a shipment of about 14,000 tank shells was approved in recent days.

But pressure is increasing in secret, according to the newspaper, as it quoted several sources as confirming that US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken told officials during his recent visit to Israel that they must end the military operation by next year.

Differences between the American and Israeli governments also began to emerge regarding arrangements for governing the Gaza Strip after the fighting subsided.

This comes while the two sides are already discussing, behind the scenes, plans in which the Palestinian Authority would play a role in managing the Strip, but in all the scenarios presented, the Israeli army may maintain a large presence there for a period of time, and it is possible that Hamas will also maintain control over parts of the Strip, according to the newspaper. 

Source: Arabic Post