On September 16, Israel launched the largest ground offensive in the conflict.Five divisions, fourteen brigade operational groups, plus 60,000 emergency recruited reserves, and a total force of up to 130,000 to 150,000 soldiers, the Israeli army pushed towards Gaza City.¡£

In front of this land of only 365 square kilometers, The Israeli army has almost invested a rare military density of "nearly 200 soldiers per square kilometer."Under the steel flooded city, Hamas¡¯s only surviving armed forces rely on underground tunnels for their final resistance.

The bloody reality of the Gaza Strip.

Israel's large-scale ground offensive against the central city of Gaza, Gaza City, code-named "Gideon 2" marks the entry of the conflict into a decisive phase.The scale of this offensive far exceeds any military operation since October last year, demonstrating the Israeli military's determination to completely eliminate Hamas's military capabilities.

The Israeli army has deployed all five divisions and 14 brigade operational groups, and recalled 60,000 reserve personnel, with a total force of 130,000 to 150,000, and plans to implement a thorough cleansing of Hamas.The total area of Gaza is only 365 square kilometers, equivalent to 200 troops deployed per square kilometer, such a military density is extremely rare in modern warfare.

The 98th Airborne Division and the 162nd Panzer Division were pressing the city from both directions to the east, and the 36th Infantry Division was also preparing for battle. The new tactics of the Israeli army are fierce: they set up the so-called "dangerous battle zones" forcing residents to evacuate, and open the way with engineering cars to flat the houses.While this tactic reduced the casualties of Israeli soldiers, it created a massive humanitarian crisis.

Over the past 24 hours, 140 targets have been bombed, with none surviving from underground tunnels to high-rise buildings.¡£ Israeli army spokesman Effie Devlin admitted that this ground offensive "may last for several months". This means that civilians in the Gaza Strip will continue to live under fire and fear.

But the numbers on the battlefield are strange.The Israeli army estimates that there are 2,500 to 3,000 Hamas militants hiding in Gaza City, while think tanks analyze that the total strength of Hamas is still about 5,000.This means that even by that most optimistic estimate, The Israeli army's 130,000-strong army only faces a light army of several thousand people.Military power is so contrasted, so why can the fighting continue for months?

Underground resistance, Hamas¡¯s code for survival and trouble

Under the rubble of Gaza City, another war is unfolding. Hamas fighters have wandered like ghosts through the surviving network of underground passages, over 500 kilometers long, half of which have been destroyed, but the rest still constitute an unattainable defense system.War on the ground is not only a tactical choice for Hamas, but its way of survival in an asymmetric war.

Videos they posted on social platforms showed, armed personnel fired "Yassin-105" anti-tank rockets from cracks in the ruins, accurately hitting the side and rear of Israeli armored vehicles. This guerrilla tactic caused a headache for the so-called elite Israeli tunnel warfare commando "Weasel Force"While the videos contain propaganda, they really reflect Hamas¡¯s still organized resistance.

But Hamas's situation is far more dangerous than it looks in the video. According to analysis, Their stockpile of ammunition was only 15 percent of the pre-war stockpile, and many new soldiers were forced into battle without basic fire training.

More fatal is that the external support line has been cut off. The Israeli air strike on September 9 in the capital of Qatar, the ¡°Flame Peak¡± operation, not only killed six Hamas negotiators, but also resulted in a close ceasefire agreement.

The Israeli military claims to have killed or captured about 4,000 Hamas militants, but this number is difficult to independently verify¡£ Much of the Hamas leadership remains alive, including Gaza Strip leader Yahya Sinwar and military wing chief Mohammed Deif.

International isolation, the political game behind the war

The results of the UN Security Council vote on September 18 depicted the international background of the conflict like a mirror. The United States once again used its veto and unilaterally blocked a draft resolution calling for "immediate and unconditional implementation of a permanent ceasefire."

This is the eighth U.S. veto of the Gaza resolution since October 2023.Robert Wood, the U.S. representative to the United Nations, argued that the resolution "will not bring lasting peace," but did not explain how the ongoing bloody conflict can lead to peace.

On the same day, Israeli Defense Minister Katz was still showing up ¡°Gaza is burning.¡± According to data from the Palestinian health department, the conflict has killed 65,000 Palestinians and injured more than 16,000.Equivalent to 10% of the total population of Gaza suffered casualties. Behind these numbers are thousands of broken families and wounds that will never heal.

This naked tilt of force is triggering counterfeiting, China¡¯s permanent representative to the United Nations, Fujin, made clear at an emergency meeting of the Security Council: Israel's plan to take over Gaza City is "seriously concerned", stressing that "any behavior that changes Gaza's demographic and territorial structure must be resolutely resisted".

The more headache for Israel is the pressure of the two-line fighting.At the same time as the Gaza offensive, the Israeli army was also launching airstrikes at the port of Hodeida in Yemen, while Lebanese Hezbollah leader Qasim vowed "not to let anyone disarm the resistance forces", and tensions in border areas could escalate at any time., various types of armed forces supported by Iran pose a continuing threat to Israeli and American targets throughout the Middle East.

Netanyahu¡¯s acknowledgment that Israel is facing ¡°years of continued isolation¡± is not surprising. Military "victory" is becoming clearer, but political quagmire is sinking deeper and deeper¡£Even if the Israeli army completely occupied Gaza, how would it manage this hated land? how would it deal with the ongoing guerrilla resistance? how would it deal with the growing condemnation of the international community?There are no easy answers to these questions.

International humanitarian law explicitly requires all parties to the conflict to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure, but the figures in Gaza are alarming.According to the Monitoring Organization, more than 60 percent of the houses were destroyed or damaged, and many communities became uninhabitable.

On the ruins of Gaza City, tanks can crash through buildings but can¡¯t eradicate the sense of resistance in people¡¯s hearts. When 190,000 displaced Palestinians were forced to flee by bombing, and when the southern ¡°safe zone¡± became another battlefield, the end of the war was predestined ¨C there was no winner, only endless trauma and hatred spreading.

After tonight, Hamas may lose more strongholds, but as long as there is no end to the suffering in Gaza, the kindling of resistance will never be extinguished.Military victory can occupy land, but it cannot conquer people's hearts; You can destroy buildings, but you can't destroy ideas. This is the cruelest paradox of the Gaza conflict-the more violence is used, the farther peace is.

Source of information:

Israel: ¡°Gaza is burning¡± ¨C Global Times

Israel bans Jordanian humanitarian aid from entering Gaza