Today's announcement from Israel that it intends to take full control of Gaza demands attention—not for the predictable condemnations that will follow, or the protests from Israel's own military brass, but for the opportunity it might paradoxically present.
Thanks Ethan! Color me skeptical though. Considering Israel appears to have fought this war for going on two years without a campaign plan to systematically advance and destroy Hamas and separate the civilian population from its control, I wonder if Israel is unable or unwilling (militarily or politically) to pursue an Operation Inherent Resolve-like war against Hamas. Thinking of the Iraqi military in Mosul, they went street by street in Mosul, suffered enormous casualties, but separated civilians while advancing and eventually destroyed the group's presence the city. Not to minimize the casualties the IDF has suffered, but it does seem there has been an unwillingness to engage in tunnel warfare, which I imagine would be required to decisively defeat Hamas. Mowing the lawn and bombing the rubble, retaking the same parts of Gaza over and over again, seems like the absence of a strategy all along.
I hope so. But like you, I'm not optimistic. Netanyahu might indeed pull off something of worth out of degradation, but it is compromised by the fact that he has his eye on keeping himself out of prison and making himself into an Israeli Abraham Lincoln. That taints whatever good could come out of all this and will not erase the fact that the overwhelming majority of people who are starving to death, in addition to the already-dead, are civilians who had nothing to do with Hamas and most likely did not support them or the hostage-taking to begin with. It gives both his actions and the IDF sweeps every appearance of the lack of a clear plan and the loss of the intention to go into Gaza to begin with, given the willingness to engage in such a ghastly tactical scheme (I hate that term "collateral damage") that is no nearer to getting those hostages out.
Thanks Ethan! Color me skeptical though. Considering Israel appears to have fought this war for going on two years without a campaign plan to systematically advance and destroy Hamas and separate the civilian population from its control, I wonder if Israel is unable or unwilling (militarily or politically) to pursue an Operation Inherent Resolve-like war against Hamas. Thinking of the Iraqi military in Mosul, they went street by street in Mosul, suffered enormous casualties, but separated civilians while advancing and eventually destroyed the group's presence the city. Not to minimize the casualties the IDF has suffered, but it does seem there has been an unwillingness to engage in tunnel warfare, which I imagine would be required to decisively defeat Hamas. Mowing the lawn and bombing the rubble, retaking the same parts of Gaza over and over again, seems like the absence of a strategy all along.
I hope so. But like you, I'm not optimistic. Netanyahu might indeed pull off something of worth out of degradation, but it is compromised by the fact that he has his eye on keeping himself out of prison and making himself into an Israeli Abraham Lincoln. That taints whatever good could come out of all this and will not erase the fact that the overwhelming majority of people who are starving to death, in addition to the already-dead, are civilians who had nothing to do with Hamas and most likely did not support them or the hostage-taking to begin with. It gives both his actions and the IDF sweeps every appearance of the lack of a clear plan and the loss of the intention to go into Gaza to begin with, given the willingness to engage in such a ghastly tactical scheme (I hate that term "collateral damage") that is no nearer to getting those hostages out.