A new report by Yedioth Ahronoth military correspondent Yoav Zeitoun reveals that the Israeli occupation of the Gaza Strip could continue for years due to a range of military and security challenges it faces there.

The correspondent's extensive report attempts to shed light on what he said were the practical reasons that led the occupation army to expect this, represented by the continuation of the Palestinian resistance, the desire to secure the settlements surrounding Gaza, and to fortify the Philadelphi Corridor on the border with Egypt under the pretext of preventing the smuggling of combat equipment into Gaza.

Demolition and displacement under the pretext of security

Zaitoun highlights the policy of accelerated house demolitions in Gaza as an essential part of the Israeli military strategy, which aims to remove buildings and homes and level them to the ground under the pretext of removing the threat to settlements in the Gaza envelope.

In this context, he points out that the occupation forces have leveled many neighborhoods in the city of Beit Hanoun and other areas, such as the “Officers’ Towers” in the Shuja’iyya neighborhood and “Khirbet Khuza’a,” which has led to the displacement of thousands of Palestinian residents and the destruction of their livelihoods.

In the Netzarim corridor north of the Gaza Strip, the correspondent says it has been expanded to an area larger than Tel Aviv. He also notes that the occupation forces are nearing completion of the buffer zone, which is an average of one or two kilometers wide on the Palestinian side of the border, and the project covers about 95 percent of the planned area, while the search and destruction of Hamas tunnels continues.

He says that this buffer zone is not just a military zone, but rather part of a broader plan aimed at destroying the infrastructure of the Palestinian resistance and preventing the entry of any new threats into Israel.

He also points to the escalation of this policy in the Philadelphi Corridor, with the aim of expanding the buffer zone on the border. He says, “The demolition in this area is part of the army’s efforts to secure an area 2 to 3 kilometers wide, where it destroys Palestinian buildings that could threaten the lives of Israeli soldiers in the area,” he claims.

In this context, he describes the Philadelphi Corridor, which the Israeli army recently expanded as a road from Kerem Shalom to the sea (14 kilometers), and says, “The corridor has changed beyond recognition. The main engineering activity here is the demolition of homes that could endanger soldiers, and the leveling process is being carried out systematically to empty the border strip from Rafah to Sinai of homes.” He adds, “In the Shabura neighborhood alone, the forces have demolished 300 homes.”

The report attributes the Israeli measures to strengthening control over the Philadelphi crossing, reducing Hamas’s ability to move inside and outside the Strip, and preventing any smuggling operations or support for the Palestinian resistance from Egypt, which reinforces the need for Israeli forces to remain for long periods by imposing tight control over this area, and the area in northern Gaza, according to the writer.

While the military correspondent focuses on the fact that these measures, especially in northern Gaza, aim to “achieve security and stability for the settlements” in the Gaza envelope area, he ignores the fact that they have become a means of imposing demographic changes and creating future settlement facts in Gaza in order to achieve the vision of the extreme right in the Israeli government.

Hamas is rehabilitating itself

The military correspondent then moves on to talk about the situation in Gaza City itself (which the Israeli army has not raided for several months), where he reports from the occupation forces that the Qassam Brigades - the military wing of Hamas - is rehabilitating itself by recruiting new fighters, and trying to manufacture weapons such as drones that can carry a hand grenade.

"Hamas forces in Gaza City have leaders, even a brigade commander who has not yet been eliminated and prefers to operate out of sight," he added.

He also confirms the continued strength of Hamas south of the Netzarim corridor, and claims that "the Israeli army has not yet maneuvered there for fear of the presence of the kidnapped people," and points out that the more the population of the southern Gaza Strip is displaced north of Rafah and the border from the east, the more densely populated Nusairat is, reaching Deir al-Balah and the neighboring Mawasi.

He also warns that one scenario the Israeli military is considering is a sea attack on its forces in the western Netzarim corridor.

In light of these measures, the Palestinian resistance remains the biggest challenge facing the Israeli occupation, as the report confirms that Hamas continues to use tunnels to launch attacks on Israeli forces, which makes it difficult for the occupation to completely end its operations in the Gaza Strip.

He gives an example of this, saying that Hamas has so far killed about 30 Israeli soldiers and officers in the northern Gaza Strip, at a rate of one soldier or officer every two days, including the commander of the 401st Brigade, Colonel Ihsan Daqsa.