The Israeli air force has announced the destruction of 1,100 targets in Gaza. The intensity of the bombings in just four days of war is unprecedented, nor is the mobilization of reservists. There are already 360,000. Never have so many men and women been called up in such a short time. In a country of 9.3 million inhabitants, this means that every family has a child, a relative or an acquaintance called to fight against Hamas in Gaza.
The Minister of Defense, Yoav Gallant, visited the soldiers deployed next to the strip yesterday afternoon. He harangued them with words of encouragement and the news they were waiting for: “With the sector (around Gaza) under control, we moved on to an all-out offensive. Hamas wanted a change in Gaza and you will have the honor of annihilating it.”
Prime Minister Beniamin Netanyahu has vowed to crush the Islamist movement and is preparing the army for a ground invasion.
The hybrid war, waged with the latest and most advanced technology, capable of monitoring everything, attacking any computer network and any communications system, has not prevented the largest attack against Israel in the last 50 years.
Hamas has demonstrated the value of conventional weapons and bare-chested offensives, and the Israeli Government has had no choice but to resort to troops and tanks, to aviation and artillery, to the weapons with which It has always defended itself and has always prevailed over the enemy.
The hostages do not seem to be a priority now. Hamas threatens to kill one every time Israel attacks without warning. The Israeli authorities also fear that the 150 hostages are, in reality, 200. The bombings, however, have not stopped at any time.
There is no respite for the two million Gazans. The Israeli army advises them to leave while they can, but it is clear that they cannot flee anywhere. Egypt has closed the border and the enclave is a prison open to a sky and a rain of fire.
Blood flows and the death toll increases. The Palestinians have counted 830 and the Israelis fear theirs will soon number more than 1,200.
The United States, as President Biden confirmed last night, will give Israel all the support it needs. The most urgent thing is ammunition and money to manufacture the Iron Dome interceptors that shoot down Hamas rockets. Ships and fighter planes are also welcome.
Hamas, for its part, does not let up. Dozens of rockets continue to fall on Israel. Sirens sounded yesterday in many cities, especially in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Ashkelon.
Terrorizing the enemy is an essential part of psychological warfare, and Hamas has managed to scare most Israelis.
Netanyahu should calm them down, but he fails to do so. On Monday night he spoke on television. It was his first appearance since the start of the war on Saturday morning. He assured that “Hamas will pay an unprecedented price.” He couldn't say anything else. He is the person most responsible for the collapse of the military defense and is on the ropes. If he wants to save his political career, he needs to crush Hamas.
During the last year he has allowed the most radical ministers of his Government to inflame the conflict with the Palestinians, giving Hamas the justification it wants most: defending Jerusalem, preserving the holy places on the Esplanade of the Mosques.
These radicals, supremacist ministers like Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, are today under stones. They haven't said anything since the war started.
Public opinion supports the formation of a government of national unity. Netanyahu met last night with Benny Gantz, one of his main detractors, to try. However, this general, who had promised never to serve under him, has said that he will only enter if he can decide. Netanyahu has replied that he should not set conditions with the country at war.
The political struggle, however, and more so in Israel, has always been a war.
