Declaring war against Hamas, 73-year-old Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces some tough decisions when he can root out remaining Hamas terrorists from Israeli territory who killed nearly 1,000 Israeli citizens in the last 24 hours. Netanyahu is a veteran of the Hamas wars, knowing that Israel must capitalize on the mandate to go after the militant group after the barbaric attacks. Netanyahu must also figure out the embarrassing intel failure by Mosssad Security Services to allow Hamas to break through Israel’s security fence and mount such a carefully planned incursion into Israeli territory. President Joe Biden, 80, deployed the Gerald R. Ford carrier strike group to the Mediterranean if Israel needs assistance should Iranian-back Hezbollah guerillas also make trouble from Israel’s north. Netanyahu cannot just indiscriminately bomb civilian areas in Gaza City.
Whatever happened with Hamas’ savage attack on Israeli civilians, Netanyahu must devise a plan that shows he can get to Hamas and Islamic Jihad command-and- control centers in Gaza. Hamas terrorists abducted at least 130 Israeli citizens, all now posing additional problems for Netanayahu trying to neutralize the Hamas threat from inside Gaza. Israeli Defense Forces [IDF] has a sluggish response yesterday, letting Hamas rampage in communities near the Gaza border. At a techo music festival near the Gaza border, Hams massacred innocent concert goers, killing some 260 attending the event. Israeli forces leveled the border town of Beit Hanoun where authorities said much the attacks originated. “We will continue to attack in this way, with this force, continuously on all gathering [places] at least five towns close to Gaza,” said IDF. Combing through Gaza won’t be easy.
Israel’s Security Cabinet approved Netanyahu’s plan to go deep into Gaza to root out Hamas militants. Netanyahu knows the risks but also the fact that Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists embed themselves into the dense civilian population making any search a kind of door-to-door operation. So, anyway Netanyahu schemes to root out terrorists, he’s likely to run into a brick wall, largely of Gaza’s 2.3 million civilians. Yohanan Plesner, head of Israel Democratcy Institute, thinks Netanyahu’s latest operation will be a long one. Speaking about Netanyahu’s next move, Plesner thinks it “demonstrates that the government thinks we are entering a more lengthy, intense period of war.” Netanyau must contend with the security lapses that blindsided IDF, letting Hamas mow down close to 1,000 Israeli citizens, a staggering number considering the population of Israel, much akin to Sept. 11 for Israelis.
Hamas attacked Israeli by land, on the sea and in the air with para-gliders, all 22 locations creating mayhem not seen in years. No Israeli citizen can feel safe knowing that Hamas and Islamic Jihad have massive amounts of rockets and weapons to launch future attacks. Yesterday’s breach of the Rafah Israeli border exposes vulnerability, knowing Palestinians can penetrate Israeli defenses. Netanyahu has a lot of work to do to reassure Israeli citizens that their borders are secure, when around 1,000 Hamas fighters breached the border to massacre Israeli citizens. Netanyahu has much work to do reinforcing the Gaza-Israeli border, not knowing what could have been done to stop the surprise attack. Hitting 22 locations leaves Israel insecure knowing that the government couldn’t prevent a future attack. Hamas military leader Mohammed Deif said the attack was for a 16-year blockade on Gaza.
Deif called the massacre using some 1,000 Hamas fighters “Operation Al-Aqsa Stormy,” borrowing from past U.S. operations Iraq like “Desert Storm.” Palestinians blame Israel for the blockade knowing that Egypt has the same restrictions at the Gaza-Eypt border. Gaza, once an Egyptian territory before the 1967 “Six Day War,” was sovereign Egyptian territory before annexed by Israel after the “Six Day War.” Israel, under Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, withdrew from Gaza Sept. 5, 2005, leaving it a Palestinian territory. Before that Egypt controlled the Gaza Strip since 1959, before that it was a British territory, and for 500 years, an Ottoman territory. So, without Israel giving the territory of Palestinians in 2005, Palestinians had no claim of Gaza as sovereign territory. Yet Hamas and Islamic Jihad consider Israel as illegally occupying Palestinian territory.
When Hamas military leader Mohammed Deif talks about a 16-year-blockade on the Gaza strip, he conveniently forgets that Egypt also blockades Gaza, knowing that factions in Hamas, including the Muslim Brotherhood, seek to topple the Abdel el-Sisi government. El-Sisii has been under siege by Hamas and Muslim Brotherhood for arresting, convicting and jailing Mohamed Morsi, the first-and-only democratically elected president of Egypt. Morsi was rejected by the Egyptian people, prompting El-Sisi to stage a military coup June 8, 2014. So when it comes to Hamas, El-Sisi feels much the same as Israel, distrusting Hamas. El-Sisi knows the difficultly Netanyahu faces in securing the Gaza border when Islamic militants broke through and massacred the Israeli people. Netanyahu has a tall order to fill rooting out Hamas and Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
