The Israeli Regime Reportedly Approves Wider Attacks on Gaza
Israel’s Southern Command has been given political authorisation to expand military attacks across the Gaza Strip, according to a report by Yinon Shalom Yatach, the military and security correspondent at i24NEWS. The piece states that the green light has been issued despite the regime’s stated reluctance to open another front while the situations in southern Lebanon and Iran remain unresolved. The IDF “chose not to comment” according to the on air report at i24.
The report on i24NEWS, translated to English is as follows:
The Southern Command received the green light to expand attacks in the Gaza Strip, without escalating the arena to a broader conflict. Despite Hamas’s refusal to disarm and security warnings about its recovery, at this stage there is no intention to open another front, especially as the situation in southern Lebanon and Iran is unclear.
Meanwhile on the ground: The IDF is stepping up attacks and ground operations in the Gaza Strip. In the past week, they attacked a production site deep in the strip (an operation considered rare at this time) and dozens of terrorists operating in Hamas-controlled territory. The IDF chose not to comment.
The pretext is “Hamas’s refusal to disarm”, but the reality is, Hamas are not obligated to disarm, no matter how many Israeli officials publicly claim they do. Hamas has never, in any signed document, agreed to give up its weapons. The October 9 ceasefire agreement, signed by Israel’s strategic affairs minister Ron Dermer in Sharm el-Sheikh contains no disarmament clause. Hamas’s formal acceptance of Trump’s framework, issued on October 3, agreed to release the hostages and hand over governance to a body of Palestinian technocrats, and explicitly excluded disarmament. Trump himself confirmed on the day of the deal that disarmament would be a matter for “phase two”, a phase that has never been negotiated. Disarmament is a US-Israeli demand, but not one that has been put on paper at any point.
When Israeli and U.S. leaders cite Hamas’s refusal to disarm as justification for expanded attacks, they are invoking a refusal to honour something that was never agreed. While Hamas’s disarmament is not in the deal, aid into Palestine is, and the USA has never reprimanded Israel for their decision to cut off aid at multiple points during the period of so-called “ceasefire”, not to mention the endless attacks on Gaza that have not stopped. This is beyond a double standard, Hamas are expected to go beyond the terms of the deal, while Israel are granted a green light to violate it at every turn.
What was agreed is the obligation the regime is now openly admitting it has broken. The agreement is a ceasefire, the cessation of hostilities is the point. Section 4 commits the IDF to withdraw to the so-called Yellow Line and not return to the areas it withdrew from.
“Expand attacks” is an admission that there are already ongoing attacks, which clearly act as a violation of the agreement above. Last week, the regime’s own finance minister Bezalel Smotrich told Tel Aviv’s 103 FM that Israel now controls 60 percent of Gaza, up from the 53 percent allotted under the Yellow Line, and that “we are advancing and moving the yellow line and deepening the destruction of infrastructures”. The reality on the ground is that Israel is violating every point of the ceasefire agreement, while demanding Hamas follow a demand that is not listed in the agreement whatsoever.
We have known for a long time that Israeli leaders like Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir have campaigned for renewed attacks in Gaza, the only thing we did not know was when the intense bombing would restart, it seems we may be about to see a resumption of carpet bombing in Gaza.
Israel has never fully obeyed the ceasefire agreement, but we are aware of what an increase in bombing means to the residents of Gaza. There is barely a building left to hit with their bombs, but the Israeli army has never allowed the lack of a target to get in the way of the targeting of civilians.