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Israel sets sights on southern Gaza: Report

The Cradle | November 17, 2023

Members of the Israeli war cabinet are in favor of expanding the current ground invasion into the southern Gaza Strip, a senior security official told Hebrew news outlet Walla on 17 November. 

According to the source, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, minister Benny Gantz, and former army chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot are all in agreement for expanding the ground war – regardless of ongoing talks for prisoner releases. 

Intense clashes have been raging across the northern Gaza Strip. Israel expanded its limited incursions into the strip late last month and, by early November, had begun its advance toward Gaza City. 

This week, Israel announced the capture of a number of Hamas government buildings, as well as the main port in Gaza. 

Since the start of the war, Israel has repeatedly told Gazan civilians to evacuate to the south, claiming they would be safe. 

However, the Israeli army dropped leaflets in the southern city of Khan Yunis on 15 November, warning people to evacuate and saying that anybody found in close proximity to Hamas fighters would be in “danger.” 

The army’s Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi said on Friday, 17 November, that Israel is “close to dismantling the military system in northern Gaza,” adding that it “will continue to work in other areas.” 

Warplanes have continued to target southern Gaza despite Israel simultaneously urging civilians to evacuate south. 

Israel is “ordering residents on the eastern side of Khan Younis, close to the border, to move to the western side [of the south],” Al-Jazeera correspondent Hani Mahmoud said on Thursday.

“All these claims of supposedly safe areas in Gaza are baseless; there’s no place that is safer than the other, and the entire Strip has been equally targeted and is equally dangerous,” Mahmoud added. 

Meanwhile, no end to the war is within sight, as Israel has planned to eradicate Hamas, who remain deeply entrenched across a vast network of underground tunnels. 

Deliberations on expanding the ground war into southern Gaza come as prisoner release talks – being mediated by Qatar and the US – continue to stall. 

Hamas announced on 13 November that it informed Doha of its willingness to release around 70 women and children in exchange for a five-day ceasefire. 

However, Israel is insisting on three days, Haaretz analyst Amos Harel said on Friday. 

“This is a smaller number than Israel had originally hoped for,” Harel added, stating that the proposed deal also includes “about 150 female [Palestinian] prisoners and minor prisoners” to be returned to Hamas. 

According to the analyst, Netanyahu is rejecting the deal in order to appease members of the extreme right within his coalition, including National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who has been criticizing the government’s decisions lately. 

“If the extreme right attacks Netanyahu’s position in the wake of the concessions made to Hamas in return, the prime minister will lose his grip on his original coalition,” Harel states, adding that “even in the midst of a terrible war, political survival, which keeps him away from the possibility of being thrown into prison, remains the prime consideration for the prime minister.”  

November 17, 2023 - Posted by aletho | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism | Gaza, Hamas, Israel, Palestine, Zionism