The Israeli occupation has once again issued evacuation orders from areas where operations are being conducted due to the resurgence of Hamas activities. Israeli media reported that the army “does not have magical solutions” in the absence of discussions about the “day after” the war.
On Saturday morning, May 11, 2024, the Israeli army issued forced evacuation orders for Palestinians in northern Gaza, while a new military operation began in the Zaitoun neighborhood of Gaza City.
The notable aspect of the Israeli army’s statement is its acknowledgment that the evacuation orders in northern Gaza came in response to the return of Hamas activity in those areas.
The Israeli occupation also announced on Friday the killing of four soldiers in northern Gaza, after 217 days of its aggression on Gaza.
Palestinian resistance factions have been active in issuing statements claiming responsibility for detonating vehicles or shelling occupation gatherings in areas previously entered by the Israeli army, alleging that it has managed to dismantle the resistance infrastructure there.
In multiple statements, Netanyahu claimed that the Israeli army had dismantled Hamas brigades in Gaza and spoke about the Rafah operation as crucial for “eliminating the last remaining Hamas brigades.”
In February, Netanyahu claimed that the Israeli army destroyed three-quarters of the Qassam Brigades in Gaza.
However, Ami Halivi, a member of the Foreign and Security Committee in the Knesset, stated on April 18, 2024, that all 24 Qassam Brigades are still active in Gaza, denying Netanyahu’s and the Defense Minister’s statements regarding their dismantlement.
Halivi previously stated that “there is no Hamas battalion that disappeared, and the Israeli army, under the leadership of the Chief of Staff, presented an unrealistic plan.”
During the Israeli army’s recent incursion into the Zaitoun neighborhood of Gaza City since last Thursday morning, Palestinian resistance announced its confrontation with occupation forces, claiming responsibility for detonating their vehicles in the neighborhood, where the army entered for the third time since its ground incursion into the Strip on October 27, 2023.
The same happened in Beit Hanoun town, north of Gaza, where the Israeli occupation announced a military operation in the town last month, while Palestinian resistance announced sniper operations, tank detonations, and mortar shellings targeting occupation forces that re-entered the town, one of the first areas invaded after October 27 last year.
Regarding civilians, Israeli reports admitted that Hamas has resumed its field activities in areas vacated by the occupation army, and despite targeting the movement’s emergency committees, its activities have not ceased according to local sources.
Occupation returns to Gaza areas, anger among soldiers’ mothers
In a new angry message from the mothers of Israeli soldiers who returned to fight in areas previously evacuated by the army in Gaza, they affirmed that “frustration is mounting among our sons, and they do not trust the leadership.”
One of the soldiers’ mothers affirmed on Saturday, May 11, 2024, that “the failure to make a decision about the day after leads to the killing of our sons. Our hearts break when I see soldiers enter and repeatedly kill and get injured in the same places they withdrew from before,” adding, “our sons’ lives are being played with politically.”
The newspaper “Haaretz” reported on Saturday, May 11, 2024, quoting Israeli military sources that Hamas has reorganized its ranks in northern Gaza.
Criticism from the security establishment to the political level in Israel
Meanwhile, the newspaper “Maariv” stated on Saturday, May 11, 2024, that Hamas activities led to criticism from the security establishment towards the political level for not making a decision about the “day after” the war.
It quoted an Israeli source saying that the army is unable to create an alternative to Hamas in Gaza, as the movement works to regain its capabilities in the areas where the army operated at the beginning of the ground incursion.
The Israeli source added to the newspaper that “whoever feeds the people in Gaza has a chance to govern, even if we end up in Rafah and dismantle Hamas’s military infrastructure there, Hamas will try to continue rehabilitation and work.”
“We do not have magical solutions”
In a notable report in the newspaper “Yedioth Ahronoth” on Saturday, May 11, 2024, which came after 218 days of war on Gaza, Israeli military sources said, “forces are forced to return to northern areas of the Strip that were previously invaded due to attempts to renew their activity.”
They added that the Israeli army acknowledges that “even if we end operations in Rafah entirely, Hamas will remain there without making a decision about the day after the war,” explaining that “we do not have magical solutions.”
The government of Israel is required to make a decision about the “day after” the war, indicating that the political stalemate on this issue means that Hamas and its infrastructure will remain.
They continued, “In order to influence Hamas, we need an alternative to it, and there are no magical solutions. The most important thing is to make a decision, and hesitation leads to the current situation” (referring to the resurgence of Hamas activities).
In earlier statements, former member of the War Council Gideon Sa’ar said that Israel is far from ending Hamas’s rule in the Gaza Strip.
Sa’ar’s statements came on January 16, 2023, one day after Defense Minister Galant announced the end of ground operations in northern Gaza.
Sa’ar said: “If anyone thinks there will be an alternative to Hamas’s rule in the Gaza Strip while it still stands on its feet, that simply won’t happen.”
