Israel Gears up for Ground Offensive in Escalating Conflict With Hamas

Israeli officials indicate a major shift in military strategy, as they prepare for an unprecedented operation aimed at crippling Hamas' capabilities in Gaza

A little over a week after the terrorist group Hamas shocked Israel with a cross-border infiltration and intense rocket fire, the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) appears to be preparing for the next stage of its war against Hamas in Gaza.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel will strip Hamas of its military capabilities. In a press conference on Saturday, national security adviser Tzachi Hanegbi said that, at the end of the operation, “Hamas will no longer be the sovereign,” in Gaza.

What I see on the other side of the border is a wall of tanks and artillery. The Israelis are planning for the ground operation. It is going to be a very ugly battle in Gaza.

“The worst hasn’t come yet,” said Mkhaimar Abusada, a political scientist and a resident of Gaza City who has now evacuated to the southern Gaza Strip in anticipation of an Israeli incursion. “What I see on the other side of the border is a wall of tanks and artillery. The Israelis are planning for the ground operation. It is going to be a very ugly battle in Gaza.”

Although circumstances may change, thus shifting Israel’s considerations, Israel’s ground offensive seems to be a done deal.

“Operative plans change constantly,” said Brig. Gen. (ret.) Dr. Ephraim Lapid, a lecturer in the Department of Political Studies at Bar-Ilan University, a former IDF senior intelligence officer, and a senior research fellow at Europa Institute. “A ground operation is probably inevitable if the goal is to rid Hamas of its military capabilities, but eliminating Hamas will be a very difficult task.”

It is not only difficult to eliminate Hamas militarily, but also in terms of it being a governing power. Israel can destroy buildings, target people, but the goal this time is far more portentous than ever before, but also that much harder to achieve.

“It is not only difficult to eliminate Hamas militarily, but also in terms of it being a governing power. Israel can destroy buildings, target people, but the goal this time is far more portentous than ever before, but also that much harder to achieve,” Lapid told The Media Line.

The scale of the attack on Israel, with a death toll of over 1,300 Israelis and thousands of others wounded, has contributed to the feeling in the country that this war with Hamas will be different than any of the previous rounds of violence that were fought.

For Israel to achieve its goal, it will need time. Time in the form of public backing but also in the form of international support.

“There is international support, this is extremely important and also extremely rare,” said Lapid. “However, because the operation is putting heavy pressure on civilian society in Gaza it will become an increasingly important factor.”

Israel has received significant support from the US, not only in a statement of unequivocal support but in substantial military aid. The USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier was mobilized to the eastern Mediterranean in the immediate aftermath of the Hamas onslaught and a second carrier is also on its way. In addition, the US has vowed to continuously supply Israel with air-defense interceptors. The Pentagon has announced that additional warplanes have been mobilized to US military bases across the Middle East.

There has been disappointment among Palestinians in Gaza about the international response.

“Nothing has happened, the European Union and the US have given Israel full support and full solidarity,” said Abusada. “Only now are they starting to about the human suffering in Gaza and asking Israel to take that into consideration. The Arab world, unfortunately, has been silent. We have seen no cutting of ties, no withdrawal of ambassadors.”

Meanwhile, residents on both sides of the border have been evacuating their homes. According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), at least 400,000 Palestinians have been displaced since the beginning of the conflict, with many others heeding the Israeli military warnings to evacuate specific areas in the Gaza Strip. OCHA said water and sanitation facilities in the territory have been damaged and clean water supply is scarce. There has been no electricity for five days, since Israel cut off the supply.

In Israel, most residents of the communities on the border with Gaza have left the area. The area is home to approximately 70,000 residents. On Sunday, Israeli authorities began evacuating the town of Sderot, which is about a kilometer away from the Gaza Strip. Sderot has been one of the main targets of Hamas rocket fire in recent years.

On both sides of the border, is mainly civilians bearing the brunt of the conflict.

While Israel maintains it is trying to mitigate civilian casualties in the Gaza Strip, they are the ones paying the price.

“Hamas is not the one being punished here,” said Abusada. “Hamas’ leadership is underground, it is still intact, they are still firing rockets.”

Further complicating matters is the fact that Hamas has been holding approximately 120 Israelis hostages since last Saturday. This will affect the military’s plans, but it also increases public pressure on the government. On Sunday, relatives of those being held captive demonstrated in front of the military headquarters in Tel Aviv. The Israeli government has vowed to bring its citizens home, but it is unclear how it will deliver on that promise.

Hamas is believed to have much of its infrastructure in an intricate web of underground tunnels. This will pose a major challenge during a ground operation and may affect the timing of the operation.

“There is a need for precise intelligence, it is clear they are waiting for the forces there,” said Lapid. “There is no doubt that the hostages are also in the tunnels.”

When Hamas decided to attack Israel, it took into account an Israeli retaliation. But it may not have been only Israel surprised on that Saturday morning. The seizing of a significant chunk of territory in southern Israel for many hours, the capture of so many hostages, and the takeover of several military outposts along the border were astounding, even for an organization that likely spent over a year planning the attack.

“Hamas probably had in mind what would be the Israeli reaction,” Abusada told The Media Line. “Maybe they miscalculated the price civilians in Gaza will pay. The intensity of the attack, the collapse of the Israeli army, the number of hostages that were brought back, and the number of deaths on the Israeli side, I could have never imagined something like that.”

The presence of civilian hostages, many of them children and elderly, is not only an asset to Hamas but also a burden that could increase international pressure.

The hostage crisis, added to the shock Israelis felt at the scale of the attack and the failure of its intelligence to foresee it, has brought to the forefront the political tensions that have been tearing the country apart for months. Many blame Netanyahu for being preoccupied with the judicial reform, while Israel’s enemies have been preparing for an offensive.

“The scale of the events gives the Israeli public strength because they do not want to see such events repeated,” said Lapid. “But on the other hand, there is a large part of the population that mistrusts the government, and this will limit its ability to stay in Gaza for a very long time.”

So as portentous as Israel’s plans may be, Israel is determined to respond with a force never seen before. Scenes of entire neighborhoods reduced to rubble, enormous amounts of munitions used and over 360,000 Israeli soldiers called up for reserve duty are testament to the intentions of the Jewish state.

The goal needs to be to weaken Hamas as much as possible. I find it difficult to see how Hamas’ military capabilities will be completely eradicated.

“This was an extraordinary event and Israel needs to supply answers it has not previously supplied,” said Lapid. “The goal needs to be to weaken Hamas as much as possible. I find it difficult to see how Hamas’ military capabilities will be completely eradicated.”

In previous conflicts, international support for Israel, or acquiescence at the least, dwindled as time went by and the humanitarian crisis intensified.

Without water and electricity, increasing numbers of civilians displaced, and a mounting death toll that has already surpassed the Israeli one, the clock has begun ticking.

“Israel has promised that Gaza will never be the same again,” said Abusada. “Once the ground operation begins, the intensity of the destruction will be much worse.”