Israeli media: “Israel” ends Rafah operation and changes character of Gaza war

Israeli occupation forces plan to complete their operation in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip in the coming days, ending the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip in its current form, Israeli media reported.

Israeli Occupation Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is reportedly currently holding talks with senior military leaders about ending the Rafah operation and dramatically changing the war in the Gaza Strip.

Israeli media suggested this meant the military was now moving into a phase of concentrated and targeted attacks, accompanied by air strikes.

This came a week after Netanyahu said the Israeli military’s heavy fighting against Hamas in Rafah was almost over.

“The intense phase of fighting against Hamas is nearing its end,” Netanyahu said in an interview for the Israeli Channel 14.

However, he stressed that this “does not mean that the war will soon end, but that the war in Rafah, in its most intense phase, will soon end.”

Israeli media suggested that with the end of the Rafah operation, “Israel” would practically begin negotiations on an agreement with Hezbollah in Lebanon under US mediation.

A political commentator on Channel 12 quoted Israeli officials as saying that the war in Gaza is not over yet, but that its current form can be expected to change.

According to the commentator, the second phase of the war will involve attacks and air operations, meaning the Israeli military will operate wherever “there is information about Hamas activities.”

Al-Shujaiya scenario repeats itself in Rafah

Yaron Avraham, another political commentator on Channel 12stressed that this was the third time that the Israeli occupation forces had attempted to carry out an operation in the al-Shujaiya neighborhood east of Gaza City. He pointed out that Hamas had rebuilt its infrastructure and reorganized its civil and administrative structures and was now distributing food, humanitarian aid and medical supplies to the civilian population in the Gaza Strip.

Avraham claimed that the Israeli military entered the al-Shujaiya neighborhood for the third time to destroy sites that were not discovered during the first or second attempt. He expected a similar scenario in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.

Al-MayadeenThe Gaza Strip correspondent had reported that the Palestinian resistance’s operations in the al-Shujaiya neighborhood refuted the Israeli narrative and confirmed that the al-Quds Brigades and the al-Qassam Brigades continue to ambush Israeli soldiers.

Former IOF general describes operational situation in Gaza as a “Sisyphus complex”

Israeli military officials have underlined their dissatisfaction with operations in the Gaza Strip and stressed that the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas could regain power.

Giora Eiland, a retired major general, told the Israeli Channel 13“There is something frustrating about all these operations. It is like a Sisyphus complex that pushes a stone to the top of the mountain and then rolls it back down,” he said, stressing that Hamas has the “ability to get back up.”

Eiland described in detail how Israeli occupation forces “resumed their activities in the area” after withdrawing from a neighborhood.

Another retired commander, Israel Ziv, the former head of the military operations department, sharply criticized the Israeli military’s conduct in Gaza, saying there was “no major victory and still no military determination.”