Palestinian resistance capabilities from Israeli perspectives

When following what analysts in Israel are commenting on the results of the war on the Gaza Strip, with its 74th day ending yesterday, Tuesday, it is possible to extrapolate conclusions that would reflect what happened, regardless of the intentions of those analysts who were mostly mobilized on the side of the war, and through a commitment Strict with what the text reveals. 

I am not interested in focusing on exposing most of these Israeli lies that are agreed upon that the time factor is not important, as it has become an open secret, but rather on what Israel faced in the midst of its war, which reflects, albeit implicitly, the capabilities of the resistance. To the extent space permits here, I will focus on two issues:

The first relates to the so-called ground maneuver plan, which has been the subject of internal disputes for more than two decades. Perhaps the most important thing that was confirmed about it was what came from the former head of the Military Intelligence Division (AMAN) and the current director of the Israeli National Security Research Institute, Major General (res.) Tamir Hayman, who acknowledged, a few days ago, that in battles that take place face-to-face, the relative superiority of the Israeli army in confronting Hamas diminishes. This is also acknowledged by the military analyst for Haaretz newspaper, Amos Harel, who wrote that during a long presence in the field, the Israeli military force becomes exposed and vulnerable to attack, is deprived of the relative superiority resulting from movements at a high pace, and ambiguity dominates the picture of the fighting. Both of them, as well as the military analyst for the newspaper Maariv Tal Lev Ram, and the political analyst for the newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, Nadav Eyal, confirm that the issue of strategic tunnels was one of the most prominent surprises. The latter is quoted by a member of the Israeli “War Cabinet” as saying that there is not yet a definitive answer or combat theory for dealing with these tunnels, and that “as long as there is no solution yet, we are in a dilemma.” Lev Ram chose to point out that there is no truth to the Israeli claim that military pressure is affecting the Hamas movement, especially with regard to the issue of prisoners and hostages. This pressure is not tangible at all, neither in the behavior of the movement’s leaders, nor in everything related to the progress of the issue of releasing the kidnapped persons. He thought to add that the main centers of gravity of the resistance are in Khan Yunis and the southern Gaza Strip in general. Despite this, the majority of Israeli army units are still fighting in the northern Gaza Strip.

The second issue is the duration of the war, and the frequency of controversy over it, despite the announcement by senior political and security officials of the US administration that they have no intention of dictating a timetable to Israel. 

On the other hand, more than one Israeli official or former military commander is pointing out to the United States that it took three years to confront ISIS in Raqqa. According to what is being reported by Israeli sources who can be considered informed, the intensive ground military operation that Israel says it is currently carrying out in the northern Gaza Strip and Khan Yunis, and will gradually move further south, still requires no less than three months at a minimum, to be followed by another phase, less intense in terms of the number of forces and shooting operations, according to what Reserve Major General Yaakov Amidror, former head of the National Security Council and one of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s military advisors, confirms. This stage will continue, in his opinion, until the end of next year 2024, “the hour of the end of the war.”

What is certain is that the capabilities of the resistance in the Gaza Strip will remain a primary concern for more Israeli analysts, as it “made it challenge the most powerful country in the Middle East without showing signs of surrender,” as the aforementioned Amidror said. 

The truth is that the resistance was like this in the past as well, and it made a number of those analysts repeat that since the first confrontation between the two sides, the same problem has continued to arise: we know how to start, but we do not know how to get out!