As the war between Israel and Hamas enters its fifth month, a quick overview of Israel’s situation reveals how it has moved towards a total stalemate.
The war between Israel and Hamas enters its fifth month this coming Friday, with the former still far away from the goals that the Netanyahu government had set to achieve, mostly the total annulation of Hamas. But a quick overview of Israel’s situation from different angles shows how it has moved towards a total stalemate.
Manpower crisis in the Israeli military; A reduction in the volunteer force along with a wave of early resignations
In a statement this Monday, the spokesperson of the Israeli army admitted that the army is currently witnessing a large wave of resignations among its forces. Among those who resigned, there are prominent figures such as Commander Hagari, Colonel Butbol, as well as Colonel Moran Katz and Lieutenant Richard Hecht, the international spokesman of the Israeli army. In this regard, Hebrew Channel 14 reported that “a large number of officers have recently announced their retirement to the unit in charge of the army’s intelligence system, and a number of female officers were among those who resigned.”
This Hebrew media further noted that the situation in the Israeli army is “complicated, because it is a military system, and sometimes people resign without reaching the retirement age and for no particular reason, but the occurrence of a large wave of resignations just when the country is at war is an unusual subject.”
To tackle the challenge, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has been calling for an end to draft exemptions for Israel’s ultra-Orthodox community, citing the severity of manpower crisis in the Israeli army. “The army is in need of manpower now. It’s not a matter of politics, it’s a matter of mathematics,” the defense minister said on Sunday.
Sharp decline in positive opinion of Americans towards Israel since the start of the Gaza war
According to a Gallup poll released on March 4, 2024, American citizens’ views of Israel are at their worst and most pessimistic since the Gaza war began on October 7. The Gallup report states that: “At the beginning of 2023, more than 68 percent of Americans had a very optimistic and favorable opinion of Israel. But this year, the figure has fallen below 58 percent. This is the lowest favorable score for Israel in more than two decades.” The poll also noted that 18 to 34-year-olds in the US had the most negative opinion about Israel, with only 38% of them expressing a positive opinion about this US ally.
Israel’s last resort; a psychological war to create division between Gazans and Hamas
Israeli media reported on March 4, 2024 that after attacking aid convoys and preventing international aid agencies from delivering food to the hungry people in Gaza, the Israeli army distributed “Ramadan food packages” to the residents of the besieged area.
According to some senior officials of the Israeli army, sending these food packages is part of Israel’s “infiltration operation” aimed at reducing the support of the Gazans to Hamas and establishing a new tribal government system in Gaza.
To conclude, a deeper look into these developments shows that Israel is probably trying to shift from military confrontation with Hamas to a cognitive warfare and, in the first step, it intends to pursue its war goals by creating a rift between the people of Gaza and the members of Hamas group.
