Israel will not be able to end the war now: the IDF faces two conflicting goals

Hamas's war against Israel has continued since October 7, 2023. The situation in the Gaza Strip is quite complicated, because Israel faces two virtually opposite tasks.

It is worth noting that Hamas and Israel may conclude a six-week truce to exchange hostages. Roman Yanushevsky, a journalist from the Israeli analytical portal “Details,” told 24 Channel about this, also explaining why Israel cannot end the war now.

When a temporary truce might happen

Hamas representatives arrived in Cairo on March 3 to participate in negotiations on a possible temporary ceasefire in Gaza in exchange for the release of hostages. The truce may be concluded for six weeks.

One of the main dates, which is around March 10, is the beginning of the holy Ramadan for Muslims. During this month, it is customary not to carry out any military operations and lead a pious lifestyle and do good. It was assumed that the agreement (on the truce – Channel 24) would be concluded precisely before March 10, noted Roman Yanushevsky.

Israel has recently already released one batch of Palestinian prisoners – people who detained in ordinary raids in recent months. Some of them were about to expire for administrative detention, so they were released earlier so that people could return home before Ramadan.

“Israel made a gesture of goodwill, defusing the atmosphere. I’m not sure that gestures of goodwill are highly effective, but we’ll see where it leads. Israel, for its part, is taking certain steps. However, on the other hand, in Israel they clearly say that do not agree to negotiations until Hamas presents a complete list of abducted people,” the journalist noted.

Jerusalem’s other condition is to discuss the list of Palestinian prisoners who should be released in exchange for Israeli . There is no official data on the exchange formula, but it is rumored that it will be 1 prisoner for 10 prisoners. Israel just wants to determine who Hamas wants to exchange, because there are terrorists who cannot be released under any circumstances.

The negotiations are still in an uncertain state, because in various local media published information that Hamas allegedly did not agree to Israel’s conditions. At the same time, there was no official confirmation from either side.

Two conflicting goals

Actually, it is interesting to note that Israel has two main goals in the fight against the terrorist movement Hamas. They partially contradict each other.

Israel has defined one of the goals of the war as the liquidation of Hamas and leaving it without military capabilities. This has not yet happened, because in the city of Rafeh, which is located on the border with Egypt, there is still one of the last strongholds of Hamas, explained Yanushevsky.

In addition, There are also camps in the center of Gaza where separate Hamas battalions are located, which have not yet been destroyed. In general, out of 24 battalions of Palestinian militants, 18.

were destroyedOn the night of March 3, a large-scale Israeli attack took place on Hamas targets. It is known that the IDF Air Force, with artillery support, carried out strikes on 50 Palestinian terrorist targets in the Gaza Strip within 6 minutes.

“The Israeli army still has a lot of work to do to achieve goals that the political leadership has set.But it turns out that in the war there are 3 opposite vectors that contradict: on the one hand, the liquidation of Hamas and its regime, and on the other, liberation hostages. Therefore, one goal interferes with another,” the journalist noted.

Therefore, there are certain areas in the Gaza Strip where the Israeli army does not take extra steps. They are talking, in particular, about a prestigious area in the city of Khun Yunis, where Hamas members are located. There is a possibility that there may be one of the places where hostages are being held. There are a huge number of underground tunnels in this place. It is believed that the leader of Hamas in Gaza, Yahmas Sinwar, may also be present. Let us add that it is still unknown whether he is alive or not.

Hamas' war against Israel: latest news

• At the beginning of March, representatives of Hamas, Islamic Jihad and a number of other terrorist organizations came to Russia. The Russian Foreign Ministry reported that the purpose of the meeting was supposedly “to help various Palestinian forces agree on uniting their ranks in a political sense.”
• Note that Israel is now considering the possibility of launching a large-scale operation against Lebanese Hezbollah. Shifts may begin on this front.
• Hamas has built incredibly large underground tunnels in the Gaza Strip. It is known that the Israeli military managed to detect only 20% of all militant tunnels. Therefore, it is too early to talk about the end of the war.