The Financial Times newspaper asked about the secret behind the Israeli occupation’s delay in launching a ground operation in the Gaza Strip, considering that the size of the incursion that took place during the past days indicates that the occupation leaders have retreated from their ambition to completely eliminate the Hamas movement, and replaced it by weakening its structure and liquidating its leaders. To avoid the repercussions of opening a new front north with the Lebanese Hezbollah.

The newspaper reported that current and former officials believe that the apparent retreat of the occupation from carrying out a large-scale ground invasion of Gaza indicates the presence of a complex mixture of overlapping factors. It was reported that the predominant factor is that the Israeli occupation wants to exploit its superiority in firepower over Hamas to the maximum extent, and reduce human losses among its ranks, while trying to avoid bringing other parties into the war.

On a tactical level, the Financial Times, quoting a source familiar with the occupation’s military plans, explained that the presence of small numbers of ground forces in the field allows for close air cover, which is what the occupation is trying to do by penetrating parts of the northern Gaza Strip. After Hamas spent years preparing its defensive lines.

The newspaper added, quoting officials who confirmed that the confrontations will be intense in Gaza, since Hamas has trained to fight inside cities and has created a huge network of tunnels, allowing its fighters to move and transport weapons without being detected, in addition to its arsenal of anti-tank weapons and explosives.

The newspaper considered that the Israeli occupation received the first indication of the battles awaiting it yesterday, Sunday, when Hamas fighters were able to surprise its members west of the Erez site in the northern Gaza Strip, target its vehicles, and finish off a number of soldiers inside.

In this regard, the newspaper quotes Eyal Haluta, who until recently headed the Israeli National Security Council: “The worst thing than the battlefield inside cities is the battlefield in the ruins of cities. There are many places where they can hide and carry out surprise raids.”

He added: "When the Israeli army becomes fixed in place, this makes it more weak, and for this reason you always see them in slow but continuous movement, with great care to secure the areas in which they are located."

While the Financial Times explained that the Israeli occupation army is very secretive about the deployment of its units “in one of its most important operations in decades,” it said, quoting officials, that the gradual increase in the number of forces penetrating Gaza aims primarily to avoid the scenario of Hezbollah entering into the war. Confrontations.

In this regard, she noted that allocating fewer units to Gaza may mean that the Israeli occupation can quickly send its forces to the north if Hezbollah enters the war.

It quoted a Western official as saying: “They fear that Hezbollah and Iran will see the ground invasion as a spark point for some kind of escalation, and that is why they did not call it a ground invasion.”

On the other hand, the Financial Times explained that other observers believe that the level and degree of the initial ground incursion give an indication that Israel aims to achieve an ambition less than eliminating the Hamas movement.

A Western diplomat told the newspaper: “It seems that their ambition is short of ending the presence in Gaza. It seems that they have replaced that with a desire to strike the military structure of Hamas and kill the leaders,” adding, “But the real answer is that they have not yet determined what their ultimate goal is, perhaps because they have not set it.” after".

In reference to this state of confusion, the newspaper quoted former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert as saying, “Time is much shorter than we imagine,” referring to the absence of a final goal for the Israeli war cabinet. He added regarding the unconditional support provided by the United States, led by Joe Biden, to the occupation, "Until this moment, they (the United States) have given us gifts. In the future, they may give us orders."