Israel’s dilemma is that destroying Hamas would leave a power vacuum
For two weeks Israel has pounded Gaza with missiles, as it gathers tanks and troops for a ground invasion with one stated goal, to destroyIt is a deceptively simple target, one which sounds urgent and necessary to many in a nation profoundly traumatised by the massacres of 7 October, hoping to reclaim their sense of security, and a military determined to restore its damaged authority.
But destroying Hamas is a political objective, not a military one. Even if Israel claims success after assassinating senior Hamas figures, destroying their arsenal and tunnels, and dismantling their administration, they have not said what they will do the day after “victory”.strip will still be there, albeit mostly in ruins. The population who survive the war will still be there, mourning new losses of loved ones and their homes.
US politicians and military whether from arrogance, naivety or blind optimism, had given dangerously little thought to what might come after they humbled their enemy. “Israel in all cases wants to prevent the integrity of the Gaza strip with the West Bank. They only support division,” said Jamal Zakout, former adviser to Palestinian PM Salam Fayyad. “Israel has no strategy for any political solution including what they want from Gaza in future, before or after this war.”
The senior security official suggested regional powers would have a self-interest in paying for Gaza’s future. “We need goodwill from our neighbouring countries because they know that it’s destabilising the region as a whole. Those countries with money, with assets, should invest in Gaza,” he said.Photograph: Violeta Santos Moura/Reuters
“ shows that what is happening in Gaza is only targeting civilians and its main purpose is to displace Gazans to southern area of the Gaza strip, and maybe to Sinai,” Zakkout said, describing the military campaign as “ethnic cleansing”.
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