In the field, the IDF is operating on an anaconda approach. Little sections of Hamas tunnels are discovered, with their associated rooms and bays, often filled with weapons and equipment. Enemy material is confiscated or destroyed. The tunnels section, itself, is eliminated. Then the troops move on to the next objective.
Safety of the IDF troops is paramount. There is no shortage of attempts to ambush or kill Israeli soldiers. Many of the ruses are very creative. Most are detected before they can inflict harm. . Hamas terrorists that dare to try to attack are usually killed. A few even surrender. Some evidence of prior occupation of tunnel bays by hostages has been discovered. No more hostages have been freed.
Bit by bit the underground complex is being dismembered.
Above ground, progress is not as steady. The Hamas propaganda machine keeps trying to achieve a cease-fire. /they have the support of a large part of the world. It’s very hard for me to understand why. There are larger ethnic minorities in well-defined geographical areas that are ignored. Two million Gazan Palestinians get more media space than 40 million Kurds. Maybe it’s because the Kurds don’t massacre their enemies in the same barbaric way? The world media focuses on Israeli military operations, but Turkish (and Iraqi and Iranian) military attacks on the Kurds are barely, if ever, mentioned.
The real elephant in the room that is studiously ignored is what will Gaza be like when the fighting stops? There are a lot of ideas out there, but nobody seems ready or willing to implement any of them. Israel says the area must be demilitarized and cleansed of .Hamas presence. Israel will not take over governing Gaza, and neither will Jordan, or Egypt, or the Palestinian Authority. Each of them either declines or is blocked by someone else. Turkey even made a semi-serious offer to provide an army of occupation to support whatever government might step in.
One final question; who’s going to pay to rebuild Gaza? Qatar and the Saudis have indicated that they will not participate. The previous Qatar subsidized regime had a median standard of living that was similar to that of neighboring countries like Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon. Yes, the leaderships was totally corrupt. But someone propped up the regime financially. Israel turned a blind eye to what went on in the belief that a functioning economy would act as a deterrent to violence. Look how that worked.
Wetherhorn 