Monday 24 June 2024

Israel says it's about to change military tactics in Gaza

Benjamin Netanyahu, the under-siege Israeli prime minister, has announced that his military strategy for Gaza is soon going to change. In reality the strategy changed several weeks ago after Joe Biden pummelled him with phone calls and visits from his top officials to reject any idea of "invading" the city of Rafah in southern Gaza. An Israeli division has been inside Rafah for about six weeks clearing the city of Hamas fighters but what we haven't seen is the wholesale destruction of property and huge civilian casualties which occurred at the start of Israel's war against Hamas, much of it caused by the dropping of hundreds of heavy, unguided American bombs all over the place in central and northern Gaza. The Rafah operation has caused civilian casualties, but the toll of death and injuries among the civilian population has slowed significantly. Whether this is because of a conscious effort by the Israeli troops to adopt a much more precise and refined attack mission or whether it has more to do with the fact that under Biden's orders, the heavy American bombs are no longer being supplied, it is difficult to know. But the tactics and strategy changed once the US bombs were put on hold. So it's difficult to see how the war in the south is now going to change dramatically while a whole division is still in Rafah attempting to root out the final two battalions of Hamas fighters operating in the city. Netanyahu remains bent on dismantling/destroying the whole Hamas structure and ruling capability, and I would imagine there is still a fair way to go before this is achieved, if it ever can be. So we wait and see what Netanyahu has up his sleeve for the next stage of the war against Hamas.

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