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Will International Pressure Force Israel to Limit the Ground War in Gaza?

(Washington Post) Max Boot - It has been more than six weeks since the barbaric Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7 - Israel's 9/11 - and more than three weeks since the Israel Defense Forces began ground operations in Gaza. The IDF has encircled northern Gaza and is now conducting operations in the heart of "Hamastan." "The ground operation was successful with fewer casualties than all the predictions forecast," Maj.-Gen. (ret.) Amos Yadlin, a former director of Israeli military intelligence, told me. "There has been excellent cooperation between ground forces and the air force and intelligence. And they basically control northern Gaza - with one caveat, which is that many of the Hamas fighters who were not killed are in their underground fortress, which still exists." There is little doubt that Hamas has suffered a serious blow, but its senior leadership has not been captured or killed. Israel suspects that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar is hiding in his hometown of Khan Yunis, the biggest city in southern Gaza. The process of destroying Hamas' hold on Gaza will be a lengthy one. "We are only at the beginning," Zohar Palti, a former official at the Israeli Defense Ministry, told me, while Yadlin estimated that it will take an additional six months to dismantle Hamas. In all of its wars going back to the 1982 invasion of Lebanon, international outrage over civilian casualties forced Israel to curtail offensive operations before achieving a clear-cut victory. A short cease-fire of up to five days might occur as part of a deal to release some hostages held by Hamas, but a longer cease-fire is a complete nonstarter for the Israelis. Israel is still reeling from the worst one-day attack in its history, and some 200,000 Israelis still cannot return to their homes in the north and south because of ongoing fighting. Israelis know that a longer cease-fire now means Hamas has won. "I've never seen such determination since 9/11," a U.S. official told me. "They are utterly and totally committed to dismantling Hamas, and whatever is required to get the job done, they will do it." Israel's implacable determination to defeat the terrorists who attacked it on Oct. 7 is likely to ensure that the IDF has the time it needs to secure Gaza, no matter how much blowback it receives from abroad.
2023-11-21 00:00:00
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