The decision announced by Benjamin Netanyahu of a direct incursion by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) into Gaza City, the most populated locality in the Palestinian enclave where more than 800,000 people currently reside, was adopted after strong clashes with military officials regarding the feasibility of the operation.
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Military sources explained to Times of Israel and Yedioth Aharonoth that the decision was made despite the extreme reluctance of the Chief of the General Staff of the Israel Defense Forces, General Eyal Zamir, who warned the Prime Minister that, at the moment, the Israeli forces are not prepared to carry out an operation of such magnitude.
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Why do the IDF oppose the occupation of Gaza City?
“We are exhausted, our war instruments need maintenance, and we have serious concerns about the humanitarian conditions of the Palestinians,” would have been Zamir’s words in the extensive security cabinet meeting, according to Israeli television’s Channel 12.
Sources close to the meeting explained to the Israeli radio station Kan that the general estimated that, in order to maintain a minimum level of control over the entire enclave, it would be necessary to have “an extensive force of about 200,000 reservists.”
The military officer faced off during the Israeli security summit against Netanyahu’s far-right allies, the Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Givir, and the Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich.
However, Smotrich voted against Netanyahu’s plan because he found it not forceful enough after learning that a possible agreement on hostages could lead to the suspension of the offensive.
In the tense meeting that began on Thursday night and lasted for more than 10 hours, Netanyahu informed the IDF chief that all the alternatives presented by the military so far are unsatisfactory and will not facilitate the return of the hostages kidnapped by Hamas. This plan, according to sources from Israeli public radio and television, involved the establishment of a new blockade around the city “without the need for extensive mobilization.”
When will the occupation of Gaza City begin?
Eyal Zamir contemplates, to begin with, that the intervention of six Army divisions will be necessary, which is double the total contingent of troops deployed so far in the Palestinian enclave, and that the most brutal phase of the operation in the City of Gaza would last at least five months. A possible complete military occupation of the Strip would not occur until at least July 2026 or 2027, according to the most optimistic forecasts of the Israeli Army.
In addition, the entry of the Army into the city of Gaza would represent a new episode of the absolute catastrophe that the Palestinian population in the enclave is going through. Right now, according to Israeli estimates, there are between 800,000 and one million Palestinians in the City of Gaza, who would first receive an evacuation ultimatum to leave the place within a period of two months, until October 7, and on that day, coinciding with the second anniversary of the Hamas terrorist attack, the military operation would begin.
Those 800,000 Palestinians would be expelled to the south of the enclave in an unprecedented displacement even compared to the usual situation since the beginning of the Israeli offensive, amid starvation due to the lack of sufficient humanitarian aid entry.
General Zamir held a meeting this Friday with senior officers of the Southern Command, to whom he briefed on the results of the meeting before starting to lay the foundations for this operation. The Army, as stated in a press release, discussed the current situation of the fighting and the formulation of plans and preparations for the continuation of the battles.
“We are responsible for preparing the army, the security of the State and its citizens, the return of hostages, and the defeat of Hamas, and that is what we will do,” Zamir said this Friday according to an IDF statement. “My responsibility is to provide you, and especially the soldiers, with as much certainty as possible, to create pauses and appropriate resistance. We operate under this responsibility,” he added.