The Times newspaper published a report prepared by Anshel Beaver in which he said that pro-fire sentiment in Gaza may be increasing after the bloodiest days of the Gaza war.

He said that the Israeli army's loss of 22 of its soldiers in 24 hours would increase the internal debate about the course of the war. While three paratroopers were killed during an attack on Hamas, the killing of 21 other soldiers will increase public concern. They were killed in an area in the Gaza Strip, only hundreds of meters away from the border that is supposed to be under Israeli control. The soldiers, all reserve forces, were preparing to destroy two buildings that the Israeli army claimed were used by Hamas to carry out attacks on October 7 on Kibbutz Kissufim.

Two missiles were fired from an ambush, and one of them detonated explosives in the two buildings, before the soldiers were able to leave them. This is not the time in the war that soldiers were killed with the explosives they used to destroy tunnels and buildings that Israel claims Hamas used as military sites.

  The killing of the soldiers raises questions about the Israeli army’s plans to continue dismantling Hamas’ infrastructure. There is still a network of hundreds of kilometers of tunnels used by fighters in Gaza, but the continued destruction of the tunnels means more deaths among soldiers on the battlefield. Then there are questions about what Israel will do in the areas where it says it has dismantled Hamas combat teams, and how it will deploy forces there.

Most of the reserve soldiers who were mobilized at the beginning of the war were demobilized, but the Israeli army is still concerned about Hamas’ ability to return, and therefore it will place soldiers to guard the corridors and buffer zones at the border. This represents a recipe for more ambushes and casualties.

  While some army leaders and politicians still believe in the importance of continuing military pressure on Hamas, a large percentage of Israelis are now pressing for a long truce, or a ceasefire that would allow the liberation of 136 hostages in Azza, 29 of whom are presumed dead.

Recent days have witnessed an increase in demonstrations led by families of hostages who staged a sit-in in front of the two homes of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem and Caesarea. Some demonstrators poured liquid on a street leading to Netanyahu's house in Jerusalem, and accused him of having his hands stained with the blood of hostages.

  Netanyahu faces an immediate problem, which is the willingness of a faction in the war government he leads to discuss a ceasefire in exchange for hostages. Benny Gantz and Gadi Eisenkot, both members of the opposition, believe in this position and have threatened to leave the war government if a decision is not made.

At the same time, Israel's ally, the United States, along with Saudi Arabia, is pressing the need for Israel to determine post-war plans in Gaza, and to include a withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, and handing over the administration of the region to the National Authority. It seems that the two countries want to guide Israel towards a diplomatic solution that leads to two states, a solution opposed by Netanyahu, who ruled out the establishment of a Palestinian state.

On the other hand, Netanyahu's allies in the government coalition are stressing the continuation of the war, and they, who are from the extreme right-wing nationalist wing, have threatened to leave the coalition if the Prime Minister agrees to a ceasefire, either as an exchange of hostages, or to ease American pressure. Netanyahu does not want to lose his majority in the Knesset, which would expose him to new elections amid a decline in his popularity in opinion polls. With the increase in deaths among the ranks of the Israeli army, and popular pressure for a ceasefire, he will find it difficult to stay with the extremists.

Source: Sama News