The focus of the fighting will be on urban areas in northern Gaza, which will be extremely challenging, MPPK’s Marko Palokangas says.
Israel has said that it is preparing an attack against Hamas by land, sea and air. In the night before Monday, Israel bombed the Gaza Strip violently, but there is still no information about the start of a full-scale ground attack.
A military professor at the National Defense University Marko Palokankaan According to Israel’s preparations, however, it seems that a full-scale war is inevitable.
– Israel will carry out some kind of operation, but only time will tell what the scope and power of that operation will be, Palokangas says in the morning of .
According to Palokanka, the situation will be influenced by what kind of final situation Israel is aiming for with the operation, both in Gaza and in the entire Middle East.
Professor of Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Helsinki Hannu Juusola estimates that the start of a ground attack is being slowed down by the heated diplomatic process.
– On the other hand, it aims to enable Gazans to get to safety, negotiations are taking place about it. And another key thing is to prevent the conflict from spreading more widely, says Juusola.
Another significant reason for the delay of the attack, Juusola sees, is that the Israeli army has had an unusually short preparation time.
– This is a dangerous and difficult operation, so extra time is certainly necessary in that sense as well.
Juusola: “Hamas’ fighting ability has increased”
Palokangas also sees that Israel’s offensive operation as a whole will be very difficult. The focus of the fighting will be on the northern parts of Gaza.
– Fighting in built-up areas, i.e. urban environments, is extremely challenging. It’s practically a search and destroy operation, he describes.
Palokangas reminds us that it is also an asymmetric battle, both in terms of power relations and fighting methods. Hamas fights terrorist-style with individual fighters, while Israel strives for more conventional combat.
According to Juusola, it is also remarkable that Hamas’s fighting ability has clearly grown over the years. For example, Juusola gave 2014, when Israel last carried out a ground attack on Gaza.
– At that time, the losses of the Israelis were relatively heavy, so yes, they are aware that it is not a picnic, but a bloody operation, also considering the Israeli army, Juusola said.
US support in the region is getting stronger
United States Secretary of Statei Antony Blinken will return to Israel today for further negotiations. According to media reports, US President Joe Biden is also planning to travel to Israel in the coming days.
According to Juusola, such high-level visits show that although the United States supports Israel, it is clearly concerned about the development of the situation.
“Pikkuinen has become the type of language that emphasizes the fact that there are limits to what can be done,” says Juusola.
According to Juusola, the United States is clearly trying to limit the conflict and some kind of way out of the situation would be found.
The US also moved another aircraft carrier to the Mediterranean over the weekend. According to Palokanka, it is the US’s effort to create balance in the region with the presence of military force. This also has a wider impact.
– The United States is also trying to prevent escalation so that Iran intervenes in the situation and Syria is in between, which is one geographical area that the US is trying to calm down with its presence, Palokangas estimates.
Watch the entire broadcast in Areena.
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