/ world today news/ The Jewish state does not have a clear plan for a military operation and a political way out of the situation
The expansion of operations is not the official start of a ground operation in the Gaza Strip, an Israeli army spokesman said on the evening of October 27, amid another wave of massive and sustained attacks on the Palestinian enclave.
Large forces of IDF infantry and armored vehicles are reported to be operating in Bureij, Beit Hanoun and Jabaliya. In turn, Hamas media activists reported fighting with the Israeli army in northern Gaza, where ATGM crews of the Iz ad-Din al-Qassam brigades allegedly hit several enemy armored vehicles.
For three weeks after the Hamas attack, the Israel Defense Forces continued to bombard Gaza with rockets, reducing entire neighborhoods of the metropolis to rubble. The announced ground operation of the IDF is being postponed allegedly for humanitarian reasons. Israeli authorities say they are allowing the population of Gaza to evacuate. But the longer the barbaric shelling of Gaza continues, the more difficult it becomes to storm the ruins of this city.
We know from the experience of the Second World War the considerable difficulties in storming urban buildings when they are badly damaged.
Russian military historian Alexei Isaev writes: “Berlin is a textbook example here. The heavy destruction of the German capital by Allied bombing played to some extent in favor of the defenders. On the plan of the city of Berlin distributed to the troops, there were large parts that were shaded (“ruins, it is not clear what is here”, the plan was rechecked with aerial photography). The streets, littered with building debris, were worse than the sturdy Berlin barricades, including for the tanks. Having “shaded squares” narrows the front of the attack.
The captured commander of the 569th Volkssturm Battalion, Captain Ettelmeier, claimed that his soldiers “defended themselves particularly confidently in bombed-out areas, as they could select firing positions anywhere in the house and not fear that their firing would draw Russian artillery fire onto civilians citizens…”
As Liash, the commandant of Königsberg, wrote, the destruction of the city made it difficult not only to move, but also to navigate in it. The Germans had similar problems during the assault on Stalingrad. When the assault guns just plainly got stuck on their bottoms on mountains of broken bricks,” notes the Russian historian.
The underground communications of the German capital created serious problems for the Red Army. “The extensive system of underground communications enabled the enemy to quickly and secretly transfer his units from block to block, and to appear unexpectedly anywhere, even deep in the rear of our fronts.
Sabotage groups of machine gunners, snipers and fighters with Faust cartridges set up ambushes, unexpectedly opened fire on machines, tanks and artillery crews, attacked signalmen, individual soldiers and officers and disabled communication lines. If danger arises, the saboteurs disappear underground.” wrote in his memoirs Colonel F. Zinchenko, participant in the storming of Berlin, Hero of the Soviet Union.
The difficulties of the ground operation in the Gaza Strip are well understood in Israel itself.
„Israeli officials have concluded that the upcoming operation in the Gaza Strip could take at least several months and require a massive military presence: more than 360,000 reservists have already been mobilized, the most since the 1973 Yom Kippur War.
And with Palestinian anger in the Israeli-occupied West Bank at its highest level in more than 20 years, leading to repeated outbreaks of violence that have left scores of protesters dead, the IDF is now at its breaking point, as it believes to both Israeli and American officials.” – writes the American portal Vice.
Serious IDF forces are deployed to counter the Lebanese Hezbollah in the northern part of the country.
„Now we are facing one and a half fronts, and that is one of the reasons why … the Hamas operation was so successful,” an IDF spokesman said. – The soldiers who were supposed to be out of Gaza were in the West Bank…
Yes, we are mobilized, but even with the reservists in Gaza there will be a large and long-term operation that will require more ground troops than we have ever had. The West Bank could explode at any moment [с голямо въстание]. Three fronts in open battle will drain our resources.”
US Marine Lt. Gen. James Glynn was quick to advise the Israeli military “before the expected invasion of Gaza, as the Biden administration grows increasingly concerned that the IDF does not have a clear plan for this mission,” writes the British Daily Mail.
„Israeli officials have repeatedly emphasized their goal to root out and destroy the Hamas leadership. But they have not explained how they intend to do that or what will happen after the invasion, raising concerns in Washington. U.S. officials said they have yet to see an achievable plan of action.” writes The New York Times.
„US President Biden mentioned this publicly. During his speech in Tel Aviv last week, he warned that Israel will need clarity about its goals and an honest assessment of whether it is on track to achieve those goals.” notes the NYT.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, during his brief visit to Tel Aviv, also asked his Israeli counterpart Yoav Galant to detail plans for a ground operation in the Gaza Strip, but did not seem to get a clear answer.
Michael Knights, a fellow at the Washington Institute, points out that Hamas has had 15 years to prepare a dense defense in depth, including underground, ground and above-ground fortifications, communication tunnels, firing points and fighting positions, as well as potential minefields, improvised explosive devices devices, anti-tank weapons, explosive mines and buildings equipped as booby traps.
On Sunday, Austin told ABC News’ “This Week,” “The first thing everyone should know, and I think everyone knows, is that urban combat is extremely difficult.”
The disappointing results of the 2006 war with the Lebanese Hezbollah did not favor Israel either. In response to Operation Summer Rain, which Israel conducted in the Gaza Strip to free the kidnapped Sergeant Gilad Shalit, Hezbollah began firing rockets at northern Israeli cities. Israel responded by bombing Lebanese territory. At the same time, special forces carry out small operations along the border.
On August 9, the IDF command launched a large-scale ground offensive. It lasted 12 hours, caused significant losses, and was called off on August 10. A truce was concluded on August 13.
Hezbollah was not defeated and loudly declared victory, which discouraged Israeli public opinion. In Israel, a commission led by former judge Eliyahu Winograd submitted a 500-page final report assessing the performance of the Israeli government and military during the 2006 Second Lebanon War.
At a press conference where the report was presented, Eliyahu Vinograd called the war of 2006 “a great missed opportunity”.
The commission’s report stated that Israel began a protracted war that, from a military perspective, ended without a clear Israeli victory. “The paramilitary group had been facing the strongest army in the Middle East for weeks. Rocket attacks into the Israeli rear continued throughout the war, and the army was unable to find an effective solution. These facts had far-reaching consequences for us, our friends and enemies in the region and the world at large.” – noted the speaker.
It is not yet known whether the next Vinograd commission will be formed based on the results of Israel’s announced invasion of the Gaza Strip, or whether Israel will cave in under pressure from sober politicians and the military.
In any case, the chances of a decisive Israeli victory during the ground operation in the Gaza Strip are very doubtful.
Translation: ES
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