For months, Israel has tried to pressure Hamas by both threatening a major new ground offensive in Gaza and simultaneously cutting off aid to the territory.
On Monday, Israel made a U-turn on aid, allowing a few trucks of food to enter Gaza. And despite escalating its rhetoric and its airstrikes on Gaza in recent days, the Israeli military had yet to begin the long-awaited major advance that would involve thousands of ground troops.
The lack of strategic clarity reflects disagreements within its leadership about Israel’s national priorities.
On aid, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu must balance right-wing political allies who oppose sending food to Gaza, and foreign allies — including the Trump administration — who feared the blockade would lead to famine. The equivocation over the ground invasion reflects Mr. Netanyahu’s need to satisfy far-right cabinet ministers, who are pushing for the full re-occupation of Gaza, and Israel’s top generals, who believe such a move would be difficult to sustain and dangerous to hostages held in Gaza.
“Netanyahu, as always, prefers to buy time and not to decide,” said Daniel B. Shapiro, a former U.S. ambassador to Israel.
“While far-right ministers in Israel seek permanent control of Gaza, the military leadership has doubts about the sustainability of permanent occupation, given the concerns over the willingness of military reservists to staff it over a long-term period, and worries about the fate of the hostages,” said Mr. Shapiro, now a fellow at the Atlantic Council, a Washington-based research group.
