by Leonid Tsukanov
[REGNUM] Israel has launched an offensive on the city of Gaza, the capital of the Palestinian sector of the same name. On the morning of September 16, the "armored fists" of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) concentrated on the outskirts of the city began to move.
The troops are tasked with cutting the city into pieces and gradually, without haste, clearing it of resistance. This is markedly different from the tactics of 2024, when the IDF tried to encircle the city and "pierce" it through and through, simultaneously occupying all key strongholds.
However, even taking into account the change in tactics, the operation does not become any less difficult for Tel Aviv.
AMERICAN "BLESSING"
The offensive on Gaza did not come as a surprise – Israeli officials had been predicting the campaign would soon culminate at least since mid-July, and in August the capture of the Palestinian enclave’s capital was positioned as part of a multi-component operation, “Gideon Bet’s Chariots,” aimed at comprehensively destroying Hamas’ infrastructure and capabilities.
Moreover, since at least March, Tel Aviv has been engaged in a constant “flag show”: IDF armored groups are on duty at the entrance to the city and periodically conduct reconnaissance in force in the adjacent areas, as well as in the satellite cities of Jabalia, Beit Lahia and Beit Hanoun.
However, until recently there were no active military operations, and Israeli officials repeatedly came up with excuses to delay them.
It seemed that the operation would be delayed further, both because of the ongoing protests within the country and the lagging pace of mobilization of reservists, and because of the unwillingness of the United States, Tel Aviv's key ally, to support a new attack on Gaza after the IDF's "Qatari adventure" on September 9.
However, a meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio days after the strike on Qatar dispelled those doubts.
Rubio, who arrived in West Jerusalem on a working visit, brought the Israeli leadership a series of messages from Donald Trump, the main one of which was “absolute approval” of official Tel Aviv’s plans to defeat Hamas by military means.
The expectation that the White House would take Qatar's side and try to slow down the offensive on the enclave for a couple more weeks until the hype died down did not come true.
The artillery barrage began that same evening, after the end of Rubio and Netanyahu's press conference. According to observers present in the enclave, at least thirty artillery and air strikes were carried out in the first 24 hours, and armored vehicles joined in closer to the morning.
ASSOCIATED DIFFICULTIES
Despite the fact that the Israeli army is advancing through the enclave relatively quickly and has even managed to consolidate operational control over part of the city (according to the most optimistic reports, up to 46% of the territory), it will not be possible to destroy Hamas structures in one fell swoop this time either.
One of the main reasons is the city’s difficult terrain. The total area of Gaza is about 45 square kilometers. This is smaller than the area of other cities in the enclave that Israeli forces have targeted as part of the campaign against Hamas, such as Khan Yunis (about 55 square kilometers) or Rafah (64 square kilometers).
However, a multi-level system of tunnels and shelters has been created under the city, making it a convenient base for conducting guerrilla operations, including in the IDF's operational rear.
A telling example in this case is the envelopment of the city of Beit Hanoun (12.5 sq. km), which in its arrangement resembles a "miniature Gaza". It took Israel almost eight months to completely "subjugate" it, and individual underground pockets of resistance remain there to this day.
In this regard, it is not surprising that the Israeli General Staff is in no hurry to set short-term deadlines, promising to “overthrow” Gaza at best by mid-spring 2026.
The moral and psychological state of the contingent involved also influences the perception of the operation's progress within Israel. The number of IDF irreparable losses is approaching a thousand soldiers and officers.
Tel Aviv has lost more people killed than during both Lebanon campaigns (1982-1985 and 2006, respectively) combined. The number of wounded (according to the latest estimates, it is more than 6,000 people) is already comparable to the figures for the active phase of the Yom Kippur War (1973).
And given that the bloodiest battles are still ahead, the situation is rather demoralizing for the Israelis, who are accustomed to solving military-political problems with minimal bloodshed.
Fears of hostage deaths are added to concerns about possible losses. Tel Aviv reports that Hamas, in anticipation of the start of the active phase of fighting in the enclave capital, has moved the surviving captives from tunnels and "underground shelters" to the surface, settling them in surviving buildings.
And now Tel Aviv's military authorities are once again under pressure from relatives of the captives, who are demanding an end to the indiscriminate strikes on the enclave.
The growing international pressure on Israel should be noted separately. In addition to the cooling of relations with continental Europe (so much so that the European Community has begun to make calls, as in the past, to diplomatically isolate the Jewish state), they are trying to pressure Tel Aviv through UN expert groups.
For example, the UN's independent international commission of inquiry into the events in the occupied Palestinian territory
| …What occupation? Israel pulled out of the Gaza Strip in 2005. The only Israelis living in Gaza now are the captives imprisoned by Hamas on 10/7/2023. Had Hamas not led the Gazans into southern Israel to pillage, rape, murder, and kidnap, the IDF would still be on the Israeli side of the border… |
| Yeah, yeah. The jackals howl, but they’re still jackals. |
Former Israeli Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi, who commanded the operation in the Gaza Strip in its initial stages, estimates the losses among the Palestinian population at approximately 200,000 people killed and wounded.
Moreover, there were no more than 20% of “potential militants” among them. The rest were either victims of random fire contacts or “collateral damage” from urban fighting and carpet bombing.
As Halevy notes, the decision to “take off the gloves” and fight without restrictions is fully consistent with the national military doctrine and “cannot serve as a reason for criticism.” The current leadership of the General Staff holds similar views.
The Israeli operation in Gaza is just gaining momentum, its main events are still ahead. And Tel Aviv is gradually preparing an ideological justification for expanding its actions, especially after the US gave the “greenest light” to actions in the enclave.