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After six months, Israel's war in Gaza is at a crossroads

2024-04-10 19:27:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

In its sixth month, the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza is at a crossroads. Israeli forces have not succeeded in eliminating Hamas, or freeing the people who are still being held hostage. As Voice of America correspondent Linda Gradstein reports, some analysts say the war could escalate further.

Israeli media announced that Israel will buy 40,000 tents to evacuate Palestinians from the city of Rafah, ahead of the planned ground offensive.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said this week that Israel has set the date for the offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah.

Israeli analysts say that even without this offensive, the six-month war with Hamas is at a crossroads.

"It could be escalation to a regional war, because of Iran, because of Hezbollah, and it will shift from Gaza to the north, from a limited war in Gaza to a regional war, or it could reduce tensions in a process that could reduce fighting and solve some of the problems. We really face critical days" , says Amos Yadlin, former director of Israeli military intelligence.

Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon are Iranian-backed organizations and Mr Yadlin says tensions with Iran have risen sharply since an Israeli strike killed a senior Iranian general in Damascus last month.

"Israel was trying not to hit the Iranians. But since October 7 and 8, when Iran launched an attack against Israel against the organizations it supports in Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Iraq, then Israel changed its policy and in this case it looks like a big blow to Iran" , says Mr. Yadlin.

International criticism of Israel has also increased for the worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The UN says over a quarter of Gaza's population is on the brink of starvation. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights told the BBC that there is evidence that Israel is using hunger as a weapon of war.

"The collective punishment that was announced along with the siege is a war crime and must be treated as such ," said Volker Turk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Israel says that the problem is with the distribution of aid and that it is not responsible for this.

"Enough aid is being introduced. The problem lies in distribution. It's a very fundamental problem that we see. And I think that here we have to ask where are the UN organizations, where are the civil society organizations, where are the people needed to distribute these aids" , says Michal Hatuel Radoshitzky, security analyst with the company MIND Israel.

Egypt has organized talks between Israel and Hamas on the establishment of a ceasefire and the release of hostages, while there are opposing views on the chances of these talks being successful./ voa