The Sinister Truth Behind Netanyahu’s Gaza City Invasion – His Greatest Gamble Since October 7
The Israel Defense Forces began its ground invasion into the heart of Gaza City on Tuesday. The widescale operation – the current stage of which is proceeding after considerable disagreements and delays – has the participation of two regular army divisions at this stage, and will be joined later by another division. (Two more divisions are deployed defensively).
Although masses of Palestinians continue fleeing southward from the city toward the central Gaza Strip, there are still hundreds of thousands of civilians remaining in Gaza City. Despite officials at professional levels in the defense establishment generally opposing the operation, and despite major skepticism among the Israeli public, there is currently no effective protest against this dangerous step that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is taking. This is perhaps his biggest gamble since the beginning of the war nearly two years ago.
Military forces are advancing relatively slowly at this stage and are doing so very cautiously. By comparison, when the IDF entered the Gaza Strip at the end of October 2023 following the massacre in Israeli border communities, the units moved quickly, deep on the ground, even though Hamas' defensive preparations at the time were more difficult to crack and penetrate than they are now.
IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir, who argued with Netanyahu about the operation up to the last moment and continued unsuccessfully to press for the signing of a new hostage deal, is dictating the pace of the advance and the manner in which the units operate. It's a grinding war carried out slowly and cautiously rather than storming in.
Zamir, who on Tuesday went in with the maneuvering forces, again defined the goals of the operation in a restrained and limited fashion. "The mission to strike Hamas deeper and to defeat the Gaza City brigade rests on your shoulders," he told the commanders. That's a far cry from Netanyahu's decisive commitments to destroy Hamas without a trace. It's doubtful that Netanyahu is enamored by Zamir's insistence over the past two days that returning the hostages is the most important task and that the army needs to exercise care to ensure they aren't harmed.
On that provision, the chief of staff can promise, but he isn't convinced that he can deliver. In the latest security cabinet consultations and other limited settings, Zamir has actually underlined the lack of intelligence regarding the living hostages' location and the fact that Hamas is liable to use a few of them as human shields in connection with the IDF's entry into Gaza City. He also raised the horrible scenario in which Hamas is liable to decide to execute hostages as a way of terrorizing Israel and as revenge for the adventurous operation that Netanyahu ordered last week – the attempted assassination in the Qatari capital, Doha, of Hamas' leadership abroad.
The hostages' fate
There's a clear, straight line between all of Netanyahu's recent pronouncements and decisions: rejecting the American proposals for a new hostage deal; the bombardment in Qatar, which enabled the emirate to organize a show of regional support and shock, with the participation of Iran and its Sunni neighbors (most of which are actually hostile to it); the insistence on entering Gaza City despite the opposition of most of the heads of the defense establishment – as well as Monday's crazy speech in which he announced that he would turn Israel into a super Sparta that would establish a self-sufficient economy in Israel in light of Europe's growing animosity.
Netanyahu has long ceased to show interest in the fate of the hostages. His remarks contain no show of sentiment toward them, but rather just declarations devoid of content and a determined decision to pursue an endless war, because stopping it would endanger his continued political survival.
Netanyahu was entirely impervious to all the attempts by senior members of the defense establishment to divert him from his decision to invade Gaza City. He has remained insistent on taking advantage of the backing that U.S. President Donald Trump is still giving him for the operation.
Efforts by senior members of the Trump administration to advance a new version of the plan proposed by presidential envoy Steve Witkoff – involving the freeing of half the living hostages, perhaps even around Rosh Hashana next week – hasn't been accorded any response for the time being. It's hard not to feel a sense of identification with the cries of the hostage families, who see Netanyahu ordering the Gaza City's capture despite the clear and immediate danger to the lives of their family members.
Trump has again threatened Hamas with hell to pay if it murders hostages, but as a practical matter, they're empty threats by a man who isn't holding a real stick toward the terrorist leaders who have been hiding for almost two years in tunnels. Netanyahu isn't even bothering to threaten. The killing of hostages by Hamas would actually hand him an excuse to expand the military operation and, like his coalition partners on the messianic right, aspire toward the complete occupation of the Gaza Strip and the expulsion of its population. That's also what he's hearing among his own family, which is a source of major worry for senior members of the defense establishment.
Officials in the army are also bothered by the losses among the troops, and it's rather clear that there will soon be major killings of Palestinian civilians, an issue that is barely being addressed in Israel's public discourse but is prompting understandable rage toward Israel around the world.
And on Monday, Netanyahu made a fool's bargain. The drop in the stock market and the worried response of economists and businesspeople caught him unprepared. Hence, the many statements that he has been releasing since in an effort to calm the markets. Was he just coming up with excuses for Israeli citizens in light of the dismal reality or were we getting a genuine glimpse at his apocalyptic vision for the country?
One way or another, the picture we're getting is highly concerning. The man who's leading Israel into a deepening war in the Strip – amid slim chances of victory – is a failed, isolated and hounded leader who is determined to hold onto power by all means.
More articles by Amos Harel.
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