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Preventing Hamas' Recovery

(Institute for National Security Studies-Tel Aviv University) Brig.-Gen. (res.) Udi Dekel - The IDF has successfully dismantled Hamas' operational framework in northern and central Gaza. More than 11,000 rockets have been fired into Israeli territory. More than 95% of those that threatened to hit targets inside Israel were intercepted by Israel's aerial defense systems. Much of the humanitarian aid that enters Gaza through the Rafah border crossing does not reach northern Gaza because Hamas members and criminal elements hijack the trucks as they make their way northward. Hamas' emergency councils, which are responsible for civilian activity in wartime, are still functioning and have regained their strength in northern Gaza after the IDF withdrew from neighborhoods and refugee camps. Hamas civilian police are starting to operate openly. Hamas is trying hard to create a myth whereby it cannot be defeated, in the expectation that domestic and international pressure on Israel will force it to halt the war. Israel needs to recapture northern Gaza to prevent Hamas from returning to the area, allowing a new local leadership to emerge who have no connection to Hamas, to run civilian matters, stabilize northern Gaza, and start the reconstruction process. Only if the IDF has military control of the region will a local leadership emerge that is not afraid of Hamas. Israel must also hermetically seal the Philadelphi corridor separating Gaza from Egypt to prevent Hamas from rearming. The writer, former head of the IDF Strategic Planning Division, heads the research program on the Palestinian arena at INSS.
2024-01-26 00:00:00
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