Gaza: A war with 'political' goals

Gaza’s war has now dragged into its 47^th day - almost 2,100 Gazans are dead, and in some neighbourhoods up to 60 percent of houses have been razed. In Israel, 67 people have been killed, and six weeks of war have done little to stop the rocket sirens in border areas and Tel Aviv.

Since the breakdown of the most recent ceasefire on Tuesday, both sides have been deploying heavy weaponry. Hours after renewed fighting broke out, Gaza was rocked by Israel’s GBU-28 missiles. The five-metre long bombs have been nicknamed “Deep Throat.”  Five of these were used for the first time in the current war to target the al-Dalu home, killing the wife and child of Hamas leader Mohammed Deif as well as three other Palestinians. Israel is “using force in a more intense way than in 2008 and 2012,” according to Meron Rapoport, an award-winning Israeli journalist.

Since the ceasefire ended, there are indications that Israel is continuing in its escalation. The killing of three Hamas commanders on Thursday was “not a coincidence” according to Yossi Meckelberg, associate fellow with the MENA programme at Chatham House, a UK-based think- tank.

The decision was made to target the commanders in the early hours of Thursday, but “they probably could have done it before,” he said.

Hamas, too, has changed its military tactics - Hamas’s rockets remain “primitive…but they fire a lot more than Israel thought they would,” said Rapoport.

“In 2008, during Operation Cast Lead, they were firing rockets. But now it has become more complicated - Hamas are underground and are not so exposed.”

After the deaths of the three Hamas commanders, the resistance has promised further escalation. “The assassinations carried out since the breaking of the ceasefire require a strong response from the Palestinian resistance in Gaza,” said Ziyad al-Nakhala, deputy head of Islamic Jihad on Friday.

A war with ‘political’ goals

After weeks of devastation and amid threats of intensification, analysts fear that the two sides may have reached political deadlock.

“Both the Netanyahu government and Hamas want to come out of these talks and declare some sort of victory, but of course both sides are very anxious that the other does not,” explained Chris Doyle, director of the Council for Arab-British Understanding.

In Israel, confidence in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been declining steadily throughout the war, according to a study for the private Channel 2 television station. However, his 53 percent approval rating remains higher than it was before the conflict was launched.

“Israel does not want the message to be that the use of force and rocket fire, has in some way rewarded Hamas. That would be domestically extremely difficult for Netanyahu.”

This is especially so because Israel is “one of the most sensitive countries,” according to Meckelberg.

“Israel is a small country - it is friends and family who have been killed. So [Israelis] get to be agitated now.”      

Netanyahu has also faced open opposition from within his cabinet, particularly from Naftali Bennett and Avigdor Lieberman, economy and foreign ministers respectively.

Bennett on Sunday publicly demanded that Netanyahu pull Israel out of indirect ceasefire talks with Hamas in Cairo.

For the various Palestinian resistance groups, the pressure is mounting to be seen to make gains.

“Hamas also has to answer to Palestinians after all of this horror and the assault on Gaza. What has been achieved? Will there be no lifting of the siege, no port and no airport after all of this bloodshed?” asked Doyle.

As the violence continues and use of weaponry escalates, Meckelberg warned that the pressure on each side to achieve its goals will only increase.

“There is so much invested. The more [both sides] lose lives, or cause the loss of lives, the more they have to come out with some achievement.”