The issue of disagreement in the Israeli government over the next day dominated the attention of Israeli newspapers, Thursday, while one writer launched an attack on Egypt because of its joining South Africa’s lawsuit in the International Court of Justice, which accuses Israel of committing genocide in the Gaza Strip.
Interests ranged from Defense Minister Yoav Galant’s assertion that Israel would not be able to rule Gaza militarily, and his demand that it be handed over to the Palestinian Authority under Arab auspices, to an opponent confirming Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s talk about the necessity of eliminating the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) first and rejecting what he called “rule.” Hamastan” in reference to Hamas or “Fathistan” in reference to the Palestinian National Liberation Movement (Fatah).
Yossi Yehoshua, a military analyst, wrote to the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper, refuting Gallant’s call, saying, “Every force that intervenes while Hamas is still in the field in any way will discover that it has a number of options for how to end its life: by hanging, throwing from the roof, or with a bullet in the head.”
He added, “Perhaps Gallant needs to be reminded of the Authority’s limited ability, at the very least, to work in the refugee camps in Jenin and Tulkarm? If one should conclude from the situation in the West Bank, the Authority will not withstand even 24 hours in front of Hamas militants.”
He added, “If Israel needs weapons from the Americans, imagine what the needs of the Palestinian security services are. Now go out and calculate them. What will be the fate of the tens of thousands of rifles that will ceremoniously land in the hands of a public that supports to a shocking extent the events of October 7.”
He concluded by calling for the annihilation of Hamas, saying, “No one will enter the Gaza Strip and certainly will not succeed in managing it before Israel topples Hamas until not even a speck of dust remains of it.”
Maariv: The Israeli army is preparing to expand the military operation in Rafah#News #Gaza_War pic.twitter.com/KYRwadiLa8
– Tel Aviv Tribune Palestine (@AJA_Palestine) May 16, 2024
The next day..
In Maariv newspaper, Alex Nahomson said that the topic of the next day has no historical precedent or logic, adding, “No country has ever planned during the fighting how it would act after it, even before its results became clear. The United States devoted itself to the next day after World War II, two years later.” From its completion, with the Marshall Project.
Then he moved on to launch an attack on the Chief of Staff of the Israeli Defense Forces, Herzi Halevy, who had previously said, “The absence of a plan for the next day will crush the achievements of the war,” saying that “the achievements of the war in the field are his duty as army commander to preserve them before he places responsibility on the political level.”
Its strange method of action – occupying areas in the Gaza Strip and then immediately leaving them and advancing to other areas – is unprecedented in combat doctrine. And in the literature of the great strategists, calling on him to be humble after what happened in Black Saturday (the resistance attack on October 7).
He was paralyzed…
On the other hand, the famous writer and military analyst in Haaretz, Amos Harel, described the next day’s discussions as “taking place largely around the skin of a bear that has not yet been hunted.”
In practice, the Palestinian Authority is not fully prepared for Israel’s request to assume leadership of the Strip. It can also be assumed that Hamas is still strong enough to put obstacles to any such process. However, there is great significance to Gallant’s warning sign.
He added, “It can be assumed that Hamas is following with interest, and certainly with satisfaction, the clear rift at the top of the leadership hierarchy in Israel. This situation will also make it difficult to advance the exchange deal because Hamas can believe that its strategic situation is improving.”
The writer strongly attacked Netanyahu and said that he continues to sell nonsense and illusions to the public, promising to achieve absolute victory and claiming that we are truly one step away from him. Now, in addition, the importance of entering Rafah is being exaggerated.
Harel considered that the Israeli Prime Minister “has been paralyzed” and that “most of his attention is invested in his personal survival, continuing in office and strengthening the coalition with the extreme right and the Haredim. The result is a frighteningly negative policy. This is Netanyahu’s new doctrine: how to run the state in a state of war and without taking any action.” Any decision is important.”
The American experience
As for Zvi Barel, a specialist in Middle East affairs, he wrote in Haaretz, citing the American experience in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, that “the process of undermining the existing regime and establishing an alternative regime must be integrated. But Netanyahu’s rejection of the Palestinian Authority’s entry into the Gaza Strip prevents such progress.”
He pointed out that the upcoming visit of US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan to the region is “to try to launch the normalization process with Saudi Arabia and to try to formulate the course of the next day,” considering that this requires “stopping the military operation in Rafah, which is worrying the US President and the leaders of Arab countries, especially the Egyptian President.” Abdel Fattah Sisi”.
Egypt and the tunnels
In a striking attack on Egypt, David Ben Best claimed in an article in Maariv that “the central reason for Egypt’s joining of South Africa’s lawsuit in The Hague is apparently the fear that Israel will discover the huge number of tunnels linking Gaza’s and Egyptian Rafah, which were built with permission from the Egyptian government.” “.
He added to his claim by saying, “Over the years, Egypt has fed us with fabricated information stating that it had demolished Hamas’ tunnels. Over the years, we have heard stories about pumping sewage into the tunnels that pass from Rafah, Egypt, to Gaza, but the quantities of combat weapons discovered by the Israeli army were of astonishing sizes that surprised even “Israel.”
The writer also linked the Egyptian move to an attempt to stop the Israeli attack on Rafah, saying, “Egypt’s fear of the influx of Gazan citizens into its territory is also clear, even though Israel promised that this would not happen. But this is the secondary reason.”
Ben Best spoke about “another reason that could be economic. The continuation of the war between Israel and Hamas directly affects Egypt’s economy and within the country, as well as among opposition circles and outside of it, criticism of the regime is increasing.”