Israeli military analysts have expressed concerns about the danger of escalation in the West Bank, which they say has become an additional front alongside the northern and southern fronts. Israeli media discussions have also focused on attempts to recover prisoners in the Gaza Strip alive, with analysts warning that prisoners are disappearing into the tunnels.
Regarding the escalation in the West Bank, Channel 12 military affairs correspondent Nir Dvori said that the series of operations carried out by Palestinians in the recent period are setting off all the alarm bells not only on the security and military levels, but also on the political level.
He said, “Israel is facing a sharp escalation in the West Bank, and the matter is not limited to the northern West Bank, but rather to Hebron and other areas,” stressing that the escalation in the West Bank is distracting the Israeli army on other fronts.
According to Channel 13 political analyst Alon Ben David, the West Bank was the third most important front, but it began to turn into a more serious front following the joining of the city of Hebron in the southern West Bank, which he said was slowly igniting, and “when it ignites, it is very difficult to extinguish it.”
He warned that escalation in the West Bank would force Israel to call in more troops, which would mean a shortage of troops on other fronts, in the north and in Gaza. He said that there are 23 Palestinian battalions currently in the West Bank.
On the subject of prisoners, Israel Ziv, a former head of the IDF’s Operations Division, called for not continuing to operate like “an elephant in a china shop,” otherwise it would lead to “bringing prisoners in coffins.”
For his part, Major General (res.) Giora Eiland, former head of the National Security Council, accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of playing with the issue of negotiations with the Palestinian resistance in Gaza.
He said that five months ago there was an opportunity on the table, “a very simple proposal: return all the kidnapped within a short time frame in exchange for ending the war, but Israel rejected it.” He added, “We have a terrible lie that they have been repeating for nine months, which is that only military pressure will return the kidnapped and achieve the goals of the war.”
The Israeli general ruled out the possibility of the deal being discussed now succeeding, saying, “Israel will not recover all the prisoners, and the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) will not achieve an end to the war.”
In the same context, the military affairs correspondent for Channel 12 believes that what is required now is “brave leadership to make decisions at a high price… the kidnapped do not have more time… they are disappearing into the tunnels.”
He stated that Netanyahu is threatening to undermine the ongoing negotiations, due to his insistence on continuing the war on Gaza, and not withdrawing from the Netzarim and Philadelphi axes in the middle and south of the Strip.
