“There is doubt whether the Israeli government will succeed in achieving the goals of the war... and the battle for victory over Hamas will not be decided on the ground alone... and there is dissonance between the two declared goals of the war - destroying Hamas’ rule and liberating the kidnapped.”

Today, Sunday, Israeli analysts questioned the statements of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Galant, and “War Cabinet” member Benny Gantz, during a press conference yesterday evening, about the nature of the war on Gaza and the pledge to liberate prisoners and hostages in Gaza, as well as what... Related to the incursion of Israeli forces into the Gaza Strip, since the day before yesterday.

Nahum Barnea, a political analyst in the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper, said, “The ground incursion is larger than what was described on Saturday night and smaller than the impression that Netanyahu, Gallant, and Gantz created during the press conference yesterday. It is broader, without comparison, than the incursions into the Gaza Strip in recent days.” previous".

He added that the war launched by Israel on the Gaza Strip “is very far from being a second war of independence, as Netanyahu and his colleagues in the cabinet claimed. In the war of independence, Israel fought for its existence. It is not fighting for its existence now. It is fighting to recover the kidnapped people, to remove the threat from Defending a terrorist organization and restoring its deterrence against enemies in the region. These are three heavy tasks, and there is doubt whether the government will succeed in accomplishing them.”

According to Barnea, the ground incursion “does not aim to advance the deal (liberating) the kidnapped... From an operational standpoint, the ground military operation is a separate step, and has nothing to do, at least at this stage, with the liberation of the kidnapped. When the Cabinet decided to approve this operation The military approved a list of priorities: targeting Hamas first, and the kidnapped ones later. The families were told that the order of priorities was the opposite: the kidnapped ones first and the ground entry later.

He added that the decision to enter the Gaza Strip with large force may be justified. The negotiations, mediated by Qatar and sponsored by the Americans, did not bear fruit. What is unfair is sowing illusions in the eyes of the families of the kidnapped and the public. The kidnapped, whose number is currently estimated at 240 and perhaps more, arrived in Gaza due to a crime committed by the state. Their families met with Netanyahu to demand that he bear responsibility. I do not understand why Netanyahu’s wife and Minister Miri Regev attended the meeting, while Netanyahu’s military secretary was absent. "I fear that Netanyahu is still unaware of the event."

For his part, the military analyst in the Maariv newspaper, Tal Lev Ram, pointed out that “although the Israeli army entered the fighting in the Gaza Strip yesterday with large forces, their size is not greater than in previous ground military operations in the Gaza Strip. And belief in Israel "Is that exerting military pressure would also serve the negotiations to liberate the kidnapped people."

Lev Ram predicted that the greater the density of construction in the area into which Israeli forces penetrate, the more Hamas will seek to fight more intense battles, and by exploiting the nature of the area in order to set up ambushes and plant explosive devices.

Lev Ram pointed out that "the battle for victory over Hamas will not be decided on the ground alone. This is while Israel has very complex goals, each goal separately and especially when combined together, which is to overcome Hamas militarily, overthrow its rule, and return the kidnapped."

He stated that estimates in the Israeli army are that "the more it deepens its ground operation in the Gaza Strip, the more Hezbollah will gradually raise its response force through operations from Lebanese territory."

Military analyst in the newspaper "Haaretz", Amos Harel, pointed out that "there is a dissonance between the two declared goals of the war - the destruction of Hamas' rule and resources, and the liberation of kidnapped Israelis. Since Israel launched ground forces in the Strip, military friction in Gaza has been increasing. In conditions like these, "If there is not a quick breakthrough in the negotiations, it will be more difficult to reach a deal."

Source: Israeli press