Israel led this campaign for the first time in a full ground assault on Gaza after the ceasefire and has taken back an important area that had been under the control of Hamas militants. Thousands of Israeli soldiers, tanks, and air cover are fighting this war at a critical juncture in violence that has intensified in the last few weeks.
The operation housed under the tag, “Destroy Hamas enclaves, uproot the buried tunnel systems, kill senior combat commanders,” is reported to the Israeli high command. Part of that area which had been reclaimed bore a key Hamas installation, following fierce urban battles. Most reports suggested that Israeli troops met heavy resistance with hard-fought battles raging in various districts by heavily armed Hamas militants.
According to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), these “significant gains” in the strategic areas with low civilian casualties achieved by their forces show the striking ability of defense forces to operate with fewer civilian casualties. Palestinian health organizational reports warn of rising casualties with dead and wounded, including combatants and civilians, in the crossfire. All hospitals are flooded with patients in Gaza, and medical staff are hardly achieving treatment success due to inadequate provision caused by the ongoing blockade.
On the ground, since the air assaults and rockets increased after the last ceasefire had ended, the ground offensive began. Israeli officials maintain that despite the ceasefire, Hamas breached it by firing rockets into Israel, which evoked an overwhelming military response. The government announced it would operate until Hamas’s defense system is severely degraded.
The world response has been swift, with calls from the UN and numerous leaders for an immediate de-escalation. The U.S. stands firm on Israel’s right of self-defense while emphasizing the necessity for both sides to protect civilian life. Meanwhile, some neighboring states, Egypt and Qatar in particular, have re-engaged in diplomacy to see if a ceasefire may be restored, but prospects for any negotiations remain cloudy.
Life remains miserable on the ground for the Gazans, with complaints of power outages, shortages of food and water, and devastation everywhere. Humanitarian organizations have warned that once this conflict resumes, it may plunge the entire region into a humanitarian crisis.
With Israeli troops advancing in from the borders, the fighting seems to have entered another very unpredictable phase. Each side remains adamant not to give ground, and the area faces the possibility of a long and ruinous war. Critical days lie ahead which will determine if the escalation or return to diplomacy will shape the fate of the war.
