Netanyahu Is Driving Gideon's Chariots to Gaza, but Trump Might Still Put a Spoke in the Wheels - Israel News - Haaretz.com
On Friday, around the time that Donald Trump headed back home from Abu Dhabi, the Israel Defense Forces began expanding the ground operation in Gaza.
Judging by the order of forces involved, this is not yet an operation to recapture the Gaza Strip. It's also not yet clear how much this move is being coordinated with the Trump administration and whether the U.S. president discussed a target date for its completion with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Palestinians flee the northern cities of Jabalya and Beit Lahia towards Gaza City on Friday.Credit: Bashar Taleb/AFP
The heightened military pressure helped bring Hamas back to the negotiating table, but it doesn't necessarily guarantee rapid progress in the talks. The operation commenced as warnings of widespread hunger in Gaza grow and after hundreds of Palestinians, mostly civilians, were killed in the recent Israel Air Force bombings. The operation is expected to increase the risk to the lives of the soldiers and the hostages.
The airstrikes intensified in the middle of the week, with the aim of impairing Hamas' military capabilities and killing commanders in preparation for the start of the maneuver. The current move is in effect the beginning of what the IDF has dubbed Operation Gideon's Chariots. Within its framework, regular forces have begun to operate simultaneously – slowly, for now – in northern, central and southern Gaza.
The operational plan in the Gaza Strip has undergone many changes in recent months. When Eyal Zamir took up his position as IDF chief of staff at the beginning of March, he presented to the government the possibility of a very extensive ground operation, involving six divisions, that would end Hamas' control of Gaza and include the occupation of the entire enclave.
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But in practice, the preparations currently underway are aimed at a more limited operation. Although the IDF sent call-up orders to tens of thousands of reservists in the past two weeks, only a minority of them were directed to Gaza; the majority of the units were sent to the West Bank, the Syrian border and to Lebanon so as to allow regular forces to move south.
The families of the hostages have expressed grave concern in recent weeks over the decision to launch the new operation, with parents of hostages warning that it could put the lives of their children in extreme danger. Both Netanyahu and Trump said last week that of the 58 remaining hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, 20 are alive. The indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas, mediated by Qatar, resumed in Doha Saturday as the IDF operation in Gaza continued.
Members of Israel's political leadership claimed last week that the military pressure and the threat of recapturing Gaza that returned Hamas to the negotiations may now lead the terrorist organization to soften its positions.
Military operations in northern Gaza, in this handout image released Friday.Credit: IDF Spokesperson's Unit
In fact, its stance has long been known: Senior Hamas officials want a final deal under which the fighting will cease, the IDF will withdraw from the Gaza Strip and all hostages will be released in exchange for thousands of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
A few Arab states, led by Saudi Arabia and Egypt, want to tie such a move to the establishment of a new government in Gaza that would rely on international military and economic involvement and include a role for the Palestinian Authority.
Netanyahu refuses to give the PA any part in the arrangement. The Arab proposal speaks of Hamas relinquishing power, but its remaining leaders in Gaza seem to be refusing – for now – Hamas' disarmament and the exile abroad of its senior officials.
The prospects for stopping the fighting now depend mainly on Trump and the hope that he will continue to show interest in the events in Gaza. The president speaks with the media every day, sometimes several times. The problem is in sorting through the massive volume of his sometimes contradictory statements to separate the wheat from the chaff and attempt to ascertain his intentions, knowing they may change from day to day.
Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani and US President Donald Trump at the Royal Palace in Doha on Wednesday.Credit: Brendan Smialowski/AFP
Early Saturday morning, Trump said that he wasn't frustrated with the actions of Netanyahu, whom he described as "an angry man" who's "got a tough situation" in the wake of the October 7 massacre. On Friday, the president said, "We're looking at Gaza, and we've got to get that taken care of. A lot of people are starving."
Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters in Turkey on Thursday, after speaking with Netanyahu, that the United States was "not immune or in any way insensitive to the suffering of the people of Gaza." Rubio's remarks may also indicate the severity of the situation in enclave: Before now, the Trump administration had shown little interest in the issue.
In contrast, it's clear where the agents of chaos want to drag Israel. On Friday, Religious Zionism's Tzvi Succot explained in an interview on Channel 12 New's talk show "Ofira & Berkovic" that "everyone has already gotten used to the idea that it's possible to kill 100 Gazans in one night during a war [as indeed happened in the previous two days] and no one cares." In the past, it was possible to ignore such statements. Today, it is clear that they signal horrifying, developing trends in the government's policy.
Flames rise from northern Gaza, as seen from the Israeli side of the Israel-Gaza border, on Saturday.Credit: Amir Cohen/Reuters
The Israeli public is indeed largely indifferent to the war's contribution to the suffering of civilians in Gaza, which is only expected to increase as a result of the expansion of ground combat and Israel's severe restrictions on the entry of humanitarian aid. There is no real justification for resuming the warfare, certainly not after the cease-fire was reached in mid-January.
The only ones on the Israeli side who stand to gain from a forever war are Netanyahu, who hopes it will secure his political survival, and his ideological coalition partners from the far right, who seek to fulfill their expansionist ambitions.
The inner cabinet and the defense establishment have been working to draft a new plan for distributing humanitarian aid to the Palestinians that would remove Hamas from the equation, but any such move is expected to encounter numerous difficulties.
Palestinians struggle to get donated food at a community kitchen in Khan Yunis, Gaza Strip, Friday.Credit: Abdel Kareem Hana/AP
As it is, Gazans are already experiencing a significant worsening of the food shortage.Defense sources warned last week that the situation could deteriorate into a humanitarian disaster within 10 days. If Trump doesn't stop Netanyahu, Israel will face another long-term international entanglement that could also include sanctions.
Whether Trump chooses to intervene, and when, will likely be affected by what he heard in the Persian Gulf states that hosted him last week. The president returned satisfied from his visit to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, after announcing deals with them that he said exceeded $1 trillion.
The future profits, for the United States and for the Trump family, don't end there. But for the leaders in the Persian Gulf, Gaza is a concern because the continued death and suffering there could disrupt their grand plans to establish Sunni Muslim influence in the region.
The framework outlined by the Saudis and their partners certainly poses risks for Israel, but this war must end before it leads to another mass disaster and thwarts all chances for additional living hostages to return from Gaza.