The battle of Gaza City does not need to happen. The expected loss of human life and physical destruction could be avoided if Hamas laid down its arms and released the hostages. That is made much less likely by the words and actions of Western leaders including our own prime minister and foreign secretary. The pressure they are piling on Israel to end the war, including threats to recognise a “Palestinian state”, are understandably translated by Hamas into signals to them to fight on. Why would they give up the struggle, which has already cost Gazans so dearly, if there is a chance their enemy will be restrained by its own so-called allies? It is hard to reconcile the constant attacks on Israel’s vital self-defence with the near silence about the savages that started this war and keep it going.
But despite the complicity of Western leaders, Hamas has clearly been panicked by the IDF’s preparations to invade one of their last remaining strongholds. Having earlier rejected a ceasefire proposal Hamas have just accepted the same terms in the hope that will put a stop to, or at least delay, their eventual demise. There is a lesson here for Western leaders, applicable not just to the Middle East: threats of force with the means to back it up accompanied by unquestioned political will is the only language tyrants understand. Instead, what is the West’s response? To undermine it with every means at their disposal. And these are the self same faint-hearted leaders who think their security guarantees to Ukraine will be taken seriously.
Israel is mobilising 60,000 more reservists for what may be a five division assault on Gaza City. It has already begun operations to “shape the battlefield”, in military parlance, including air strikes against key targets and preparations to encircle the city with tanks and infantry. Up to a million civilians are at present in Gaza City, around half the population of the Strip, although many have now begun to head south. A large number of these, having previously evacuated, were forced back by Hamas to increase the number of human shields to die in the anticipated fighting there.
The IDF will do everything it can to clear out as many of them as possible before the attack begins, something they successfully achieved before assaulting Rafah in the south — another pivotal battle that Western leaders did their utmost to stop. Where will these civilians live and how will they survive? The IDF has demarcated humanitarian zones in the south but the UN has proven woefully unable or unwilling to provide effective support. Their meagre efforts will be strengthened by Israel — unprecedented by a combatant nation during any war. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which gets aid to civilians and keeps it out of Hamas hands, is working to significantly expand its operations, which are now responsible for delivery of most aid into Gaza.
It’s going to be a tough fight for the IDF, the biggest battle they will have fought in Gaza. The city is the largest urban area in the Strip, with high-rise buildings, broad thoroughfares and narrow rat-runs, all adding complexity, chaos and intense danger for an attacking force. The defenders have had twenty years to prepare. Buildings are connected by a vast tunnel network, allowing Hamas fighters to move speedily beneath the city then pop up to spring an ambush, using weapon stashes concealed inside many of the buildings, including schools, hospitals and mosques. Every entry to every structure must be assumed to be rigged with explosives, plus extensive booby-trapping within, concealed inside walls, under floors and in ceilings, covered by cameras to enable remote triggering. The IDF will confront the same hazards in the roads and alleyways.
All this should be remembered when Israel comes under fire on the media battlefield for large-scale destruction in the city, as they have been elsewhere in Gaza. That will be just one part of Hamas’s propaganda campaign. We will also see the media plastered with pictures of horrifically wounded and dead women and children, inflated civilian casualty figures and accusations of IDF atrocities as the terrorists try to end the offensive by leveraging Western outrage.
The reality is the IDF will be doing all it can to minimise civilian harm as they have done throughout this campaign. They will also be prioritising hostage release. Some of the remaining twenty hostages are thought to be in Gaza City, probably held in tunnels so Hamas can move them when the fighting gets close to preserve their main bargaining chip.
This will be a unique fight but not without historical precedent. Perhaps the closest comparison is the 1945 Battle of Manila, one of the worst urban conflicts of the Second World War. There were a million civilians in Manila too, and despite American efforts, the Japanese refused to allow most to leave, keeping them as human shields. One hundred thousand of them died in the fighting, some deliberately slaughtered by the Japanese. As in Gaza, the enemy heavily fortified the city, with extensive booby traps and a tunnel system connecting some of the buildings. Like Hamas the Japanese held hostages in Manila, in the form of Allied prisoners of war.
The Americans did not want to take on the Japanese in Manila, because they feared large-scale civilian deaths, the destruction of the city and an expected high casualty rate among their own forces. But they had no choice if they were to win the Philippines campaign, essential to the defeat of Imperial Japan. Likewise, the IDF has no choice but to destroy Hamas in Gaza City. Hamas has to be defeated, the hostages rescued, and their rule that threatens Israel and keeps the population subjugated to their will ended. This will be a battle for good against evil, and if Israel has to fight it, the West should not get in its way. On the contrary, like America against Japan, it should give full political support and whatever military backing is needed.
The battle of Gaza City does not need to happen. The expected loss of human life and physical destruction could be avoided if Hamas laid down its arms and released the hostages. That is made much less likely by the words and actions of Western leaders including our own prime minister and foreign secretary. The pressure they are piling on Israel to end the war, including threats to recognise a “Palestinian state”, are understandably translated by Hamas into signals to them to fight on. Why would they give up the struggle, which has already cost Gazans so dearly, if there is a chance their enemy will be restrained by its own so-called allies? It is hard to reconcile the constant attacks on Israel’s vital self-defence with the near silence about the savages that started this war and keep it going.
But despite the complicity of Western leaders, Hamas has clearly been panicked by the IDF’s preparations to invade one of their last remaining strongholds. Having earlier rejected a ceasefire proposal Hamas have just accepted the same terms in the hope that will put a stop to, or at least delay, their eventual demise. There is a lesson here for Western leaders, applicable not just to the Middle East: threats of force with the means to back it up accompanied by unquestioned political will is the only language tyrants understand. Instead, what is the West’s response? To undermine it with every means at their disposal. And these are the self same faint-hearted leaders who think their security guarantees to Ukraine will be taken seriously.
Israel is mobilising 60,000 more reservists for what may be a five division assault on Gaza City. It has already begun operations to “shape the battlefield”, in military parlance, including air strikes against key targets and preparations to encircle the city with tanks and infantry. Up to a million civilians are at present in Gaza City, around half the population of the Strip, although many have now begun to head south. A large number of these, having previously evacuated, were forced back by Hamas to increase the number of human shields to die in the anticipated fighting there.
The IDF will do everything it can to clear out as many of them as possible before the attack begins, something they successfully achieved before assaulting Rafah in the south — another pivotal battle that Western leaders did their utmost to stop. Where will these civilians live and how will they survive? The IDF has demarcated humanitarian zones in the south but the UN has proven woefully unable or unwilling to provide effective support. Their meagre efforts will be strengthened by Israel — unprecedented by a combatant nation during any war. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which gets aid to civilians and keeps it out of Hamas hands, is working to significantly expand its operations, which are now responsible for delivery of most aid into Gaza.
It’s going to be a tough fight for the IDF, the biggest battle they will have fought in Gaza. The city is the largest urban area in the Strip, with high-rise buildings, broad thoroughfares and narrow rat-runs, all adding complexity, chaos and intense danger for an attacking force. The defenders have had twenty years to prepare. Buildings are connected by a vast tunnel network, allowing Hamas fighters to move speedily beneath the city then pop up to spring an ambush, using weapon stashes concealed inside many of the buildings, including schools, hospitals and mosques. Every entry to every structure must be assumed to be rigged with explosives, plus extensive booby-trapping within, concealed inside walls, under floors and in ceilings, covered by cameras to enable remote triggering. The IDF will confront the same hazards in the roads and alleyways.
All this should be remembered when Israel comes under fire on the media battlefield for large-scale destruction in the city, as they have been elsewhere in Gaza. That will be just one part of Hamas’s propaganda campaign. We will also see the media plastered with pictures of horrifically wounded and dead women and children, inflated civilian casualty figures and accusations of IDF atrocities as the terrorists try to end the offensive by leveraging Western outrage.
The reality is the IDF will be doing all it can to minimise civilian harm as they have done throughout this campaign. They will also be prioritising hostage release. Some of the remaining twenty hostages are thought to be in Gaza City, probably held in tunnels so Hamas can move them when the fighting gets close to preserve their main bargaining chip.
This will be a unique fight but not without historical precedent. Perhaps the closest comparison is the 1945 Battle of Manila, one of the worst urban conflicts of the Second World War. There were a million civilians in Manila too, and despite American efforts, the Japanese refused to allow most to leave, keeping them as human shields. One hundred thousand of them died in the fighting, some deliberately slaughtered by the Japanese. As in Gaza, the enemy heavily fortified the city, with extensive booby traps and a tunnel system connecting some of the buildings. Like Hamas the Japanese held hostages in Manila, in the form of Allied prisoners of war.
The Americans did not want to take on the Japanese in Manila, because they feared large-scale civilian deaths, the destruction of the city and an expected high casualty rate among their own forces. But they had no choice if they were to win the Philippines campaign, essential to the defeat of Imperial Japan. Likewise, the IDF has no choice but to destroy Hamas in Gaza City. Hamas has to be defeated, the hostages rescued, and their rule that threatens Israel and keeps the population subjugated to their will ended. This will be a battle for good against evil, and if Israel has to fight it, the West should not get in its way. On the contrary, like America against Japan, it should give full political support and whatever military backing is needed.